your q's answered

i'm back.
yay.
and feeling much better.

in my absence a reader asked about family photos:

"So...I have outdoor family portraits this weekend. 

Is there is any chance you could put 

together a post on how to dress for these things? 

Pretty please? 

It's making me crazy trying to get 

everyone to coordinate without being too matchy matchy."

but of course.

with modern family photos it seems to be all about

dressing in bright "look at me" colors

and they all seem to have that 

effortless look about the clothing.

i take pictures on the side as well

and i think the most important thing in family

shots is that you don't loose the essence

of who your family is.

ie: my oldest would never (ever, ever, ever,) wear a dress

so i would never put her in one just for family pics.

i want her to be comfortable but of course

i would still have a say in what she's wearing.  

here's the first thing that popped in my head:

clothing details here 

playing on colors in some of the more colorful outfits

is key to great coordination.

i tried to get clothes that had the same colors...but you get the idea.

moms shirt plays on:

big sis' leggings, pink in sleeves

little sis' pink in dress.

moms scarf plays on:

blue in both dresses and in big bro's shirt
dad's sweater can be lighter and coordinate with big bro

or can be darker and bring in big sis' dress more.

 little sis' tights play on:

big sis' dress and possibly dad's sweater. 

does that make sense? 

you don't have to do these coordination's exactly

(this is by no means a rule)

but it gives you an idea how you can bring out different 

colors with different pieces.

coordinating sisters can be easy when they dress in the same section.

buying tops at the same store can also make it easier.

places like target and old navy make it easy to find

coordinating clothing for girls:

 all these shirts are from old navy

and you can get the rest of the details here 

i did another girls dresses idea

because well...girl clothes are more fun:

 all these dresses "go together" in some way or another

it just depends on how "loud" you want it to look.

now for boys...i'll admit i have no experience in 

dressing little boys but luckily there clothing choices

aren't as hard to choose from:

  i think the boys shirt should go with a color in one

at least one of the sisters dresses,

and mom should have an 

element of it or dad should.

or both, but not so much that it looks matchy.

boys clothing details here 

 there's also a little bit of light blue in big sis' dress

that goes with big bro's shirt and then that can tie

in moms blue shirt too.

clothing details here

but the number one rule i tell moms

it's all about you.

if you aren't comfortable

if you don't feel good

if you don't like what you are wearing

if you don't feel fabulous and gorgeous

then no matter how many shots

or locations you go to,

you aren't going to love the family picture.

and to add onto that, your husband doesn't care

what he looks like.

in my experience, your kids always look cute

your husband never cares what he looks like

and you scrutinize your own face/body in every shot.

i give all moms special permission to find that outfit that

makes you feel gorgeous before you even look

for coordinates for everyone else.

i hope this was helpful and gave the reader

and others tips on family photos.

p.s. i don't know what's going on with blogger

but it's publishing my print in smaller font...sorry ladies.

i hope it works itself out, no matter

how many times i edit it, it looks the same.