What to Wear for your Senior Pictures
Choosing Your Senior Portrait Outfits
Your wardrobe plays an important role in creating portraits you'll love. Once you've selected your session location, we'll review your outfit choices during a phone or email consultation and plan the best order for each look.
Have questions before your session? Feel free to call, email or message me on Instagram—I'm always happy to help!
Top Wardrobe Tips
Iron everything.
Wear the right undergarments. Choose the correct color and style undergarment for each outfit
Clean your glasses
Expect a breeze at the beach—it's part of the fun and often creates beautiful movement in your portraits!
Short skirt limit poses
Wear what makes you feel confident
Senior photos are all about you and showcasing your personality and style, so choose outfits that make you feel most like you.
When you feel confident in what you’re wearing, that confidence will show
Wear what makes you feel comfortable
Confidence starts with comfort. Choose outfits that fit well and allow you to move easily, since you'll be sitting, standing, and changing poses throughout your session. When you feel comfortable, it shows in your portraits!
Plan your outfits based on your photoshoot location
A good way to start planning your outfits is to consider the location you’ve selected for your session. A bit more sophisticated or edgy in the city, laid back and casual in the forest, romantic and soft in a field and light and airy on the beach with no shoes needed!
Plan for a variety of looks
I recommend choosing outfits that are distinct from each other. This will ultimately give you more variety in your final gallery.
1. A dressy outfit… Select something classic and timeless for your portraits — solid colors, clean lines, and well‑fitted pieces always photograph beautifully
2. A casual outfit… be sure that one of your selections includes who you are everyday….jeans, shorts or a romper. An outfit with pants allows us to take advantage of a whole different set of poses than with a dress or skirt
3. Wow factor… Don’t be afraid to be daring and select something extraordinary that you may not wear in your day to day life.
4. Add in something that shows your personality. A basketball or baseball, letterman jacket, instrument, pointe shoes etc.
Select colors that compliment
Neutral Tones go with anything! If you are overwhelmed by choosing the colors of your outfits, remember that you can’t go wrong with wearing neutrals! Neutral colored outfits, like a white dress or button up are classic and will go well with any background.
Earth tones photograph beautifully and look great with most backdrops. I suggest sticking with at most one or two colors for each of your outfits, with the rest of your clothing items should be neutral. For example, an olive green sweater and a pair of jeans.
Jewel tones are great if you love more vibrant colors!
These bright and bold colors go really well with photoshoot locations that are not as colorful, like the city or the beach.
Accessorize
Adding different accessories to your outfits if fun. Accessories include things like jewelry, hats, glasses, flowers or anything else you want to incorporate.
Patterns and textures
Choosing clothing items with an interesting fabric or texture is a great way to make your photos stand out. I’d suggest sticking to one or two unique textures per outfit.
Patterns can also add a lot of visual interest to your photos. I recommend going with small, repeated patterns because they photograph well and do not distract from you, the subject of the photo. Try to stick with one pattern per outfit.
Pockets
Pockets are always a bonus! They create relaxed, natural-looking poses and add even more variety to your senior portraits.
Dress for the weather
If you have a late fall, winter, or early spring shoot, plan on dressing warm. This is a great time of year to incorporate sweaters, jackets and boots! If you are set on wearing a more summery outfit when it’s cold outside, be sure to bring an extra warm jacket to your photoshoot to warm up while we aren’t shooting.
Find inspiration online
If you need some inspiration check out the galleries on my website and posts on my Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Try searching for ‘senior photo outfits’ or “what to wear for a city photoshoot” etc.
Try outfits on in advance
This step is very important! Take a few minutes to try on each outfit head-to-toe to see how it looks in the mirror. Keep an eye out for any issues, like bra straps showing, tan lines, see-through material, or anything that doesn’t fit quite right.
Bring something special
It’s always fun to include something meaningful to you in your photos.
It’s a great way to make your photoshoot unique.
Your dog/pet, Sports gear/uniforms, your car, truck or motorcycle,
an item related to your favorite hobby, flower bouquets or crowns,
Musical instruments or anything else you can think of!
