You’ve booked your Dallas Fall Family Photos, but now comes the important part – choosing outfits! Some people find this task easy, fun, and exciting. While others, probably most people, find this task to be totally overwhelming. If you find yourself in that latter group, have no fear, I have made coordinating outfits simple!
I turned to Instagram for some real life examples of people planning Dallas Fall Family Photo outfits. So, follow along below and coordinate some outfits with me!
Step One: Who Am I dressing For Dallas Fall Family Photos?
When starting this process, make sure you know how many people you are shopping/planning for and take note of any special requests that there may be.
This request came from a personal friend of mine, so I had a little bit of background on them and what they generally prefer. With this in mind, I looked for more traditional looks that worked for the fall, but were still fun and fresh. Below you can watch me build 3 different wardrobe inspiration boards for their Dallas Fall Family Photos:
Step Two: Start with mom!
I almost always start by looking for something for mom or the person who will be the hardest to find something for.
For this example, I gave mom three options all from different color palettes. I generally try to offer at least one pattern for mom, but for this example the patterns are mostly pulled in from the kids’ clothes.
Step THree: Solids or Patterns
After establishing what mom will be wearing, I look to see whether or not I need more solids or to mix in some patterns at this point. In this case, I know I needed to add patterns for some variation for two and three. So, I started looking at some things I had flagged when browsing. I looked at the options I had that would coordinate with one of these dresses and started adding to them.
The flowers on mom’s dress are a nice medium blue shade, so I knew that I wanted to incorporate that color in a bold way. This sweater is the perfect contrast.
I wanted to keep the tones very warm here, and I love to weave similar colors throughout all the outfits. When I saw this sweater I knew that it was a great match.
This little sweater bubble is the perfect addition because it adds texture and pattern, but still keeps the color palette simple.
Step Four: Missing Colors?
Something that is SO important is making sure that you are incorporating all or most of the colors in your pattern pieces. One of the biggest mistakes I see people do when coordinating outfits for photos is throwing in a pattern that doesn’t tie in anywhere. I love patterns, but ONLY if the other pieces tie in to the colors that the patterns incorporate.
Typically I shy away from mixing too many patterns, but because there are more than four people in this family I took a little more freedom in adding patterns here. This dress acts as the “glue” for all of these outfits because it includes lots of the individual colors.
I went with another pattern, specifically one with white, to bring in some more contrast.
I wanted to pull the cream color from the baby bubble and add a solid neutral to balance everything out.
Step Five: Back to Solids or Patterns
At this point in the process we will have an even amount of outfits, so now is the time to make sure that the solids and the patterns are balanced? Keep in mind, they don’t always have to be an even ratio – they just need to look balanced to the eye.
I knew this addition needed to be solid and simple. The sweater is a nice neutral that blends well and the pants pull in the darker tones of the little girl.
With this addition I wanted to bridge the gap between the darker colors and the lighter colors. I started looking for a tan/cream color that blended well. I could have gone with a solid color, but because this dress is a very subtle pattern it works well, too!
Since there were already two solids and a fairly simple pattern, I wanted to throw in something fun that wasn’t too distracting. This dress works because the pattern is totally different than the other and it is still in the same color family as the other items.
Step 6: Add Texture!
When in doubt, add texture! When you have more than 4 people you are coordinating it can be tricky not to repeat looks or make sure that there isn’t too much going on. A great way to compliment what you already have is to repeat colors that are already present but doing so with a DIFFERENT texture. Fall is an easy time to do this because you can incorporate sweaters, corduroy, and layers!
I love the texture of these corduroy overalls and the sweater. I really leaned into embracing patterns on this set, but it really compliments each other with the warm tones.
With the final piece to add, I wanted to make sure I incorporated more texture. Texture is so important when thinking about outfits for photos, but it is often overlooked. The chocolate brown perfectly ties dad’s shirt and the older boy’s sweater together.
T-E-X-T-U-R-E, y’all picking up on what I am putting down? Always add texture. Instead of adding variety with color here, I accomplished it with adding texture!
Now tell me which set would you choose for your Dallas Fall Family Photos?
Are you wanting more wardrobe inspiration for your Dallas Fall Family Photos? Check out this post!