The question every client asks a week before the shoot: what should we wear? There is no single right answer, but there are a few decisions that make the photos look better regardless of style, season or destination.
Dress for the place, not for the camera
A long dress that moves in the wind belongs on a cliff in Santorini. In a narrow Lisbon alley the same dress fights the frame. Look at where you are going and ask what people wear there on an ordinary evening, then make it slightly better. Photos age well when the clothes look like something you would actually choose, not like a costume rented for an hour.
Three rules that always work
- Pick a palette, not a uniform. Two or three tones that sit near each other read as a group. Identical white shirts read as a school photo.
- Avoid busy prints and visible logos. They pull the eye away from faces and date the photo within a year.
- Bring one layer. A jacket or a scarf gives the photographer a way to change the look without changing the location.
Small things people forget
Check how clothes look when you sit down and when you walk, because half the session is movement. Steam or iron everything the night before — creases are visible on camera and expensive to retouch. Leave the hair elastic on your wrist somewhere else. And if you are shooting with kids, let them wear something they like: a comfortable child photographs better than a well-dressed unhappy one.
