Styling: Autumn Portraits
I trend towards neutrals on a normal day, but autumn just begs for beige, jewel tones, and rich textures. Tying these colors together in one outfit is fairly straight forward. However, when there are multiple people, patterns, tastes, things can get fairly complex rather quickly. No fear! That’s where the compiled resources below can help streamline and organize the wardrobe process. Let’s break it all down, shall we?
STEP ONE: BUDGET
Set a clear and realistic budget for wardrobe purchases.
Initially, I like to gauge how much a client would prefer to use items they already own, or if they are open to purchasing new (or gently used) items for a session. Essentially, I am looking to see what the budget is for wardrobe. I recommend clients do anticipate purchasing a few items if need be, as clothing choices and styling have such an impactful effect in images. Sometimes individuals find they already trend towards neutrals and can easily pull together outfits from their closet, and sometimes clients may find themselves needing to purchase a few (or more) items.
If you have neutral items you already own, I like to snap a quick picture of these items to keep them handy while shopping and planning.
STEP TWO: FIND A COLOR PROFILE + AESTHETIC
The following chart has become my holy grail in tying together neutrals. I like to select a ‘base color’ and then look for coordinating colors that could tie between different subjects.
Source: Collective Gen
The following chart, also from Collective Gen, ties in some more jewel tones if that’s more your speed.
Source: Collective Gen
So this is where I start rifling through everyone’s closet and identifying items they already in complementary colors. Some people prefer taking images and using a picture stitching app on their phone to put them together, others prefer handing the clothes in person. You’ll know what works for you.
You’ll also start to decide what mood you are setting with you wardrobe selections. Are you trending towards a more casual, comfortable look? Or are you trending towards are more dramatic look with longer more ‘formal’ dresses? There’s no wrong answer, it all comes down to your personal preference. However, defining the ‘tone’ or ‘mood’ as more formal or more casual helps keep things consistent across multiple outfits. Getting down to your core attributes as individuals or a family can help you decide on formality of outfits. This will also be thoroughly discussed in our pre-session planning consult.
At this point, you can select a neutral color scheme with 1 or 2 colors you tie between outfits. You’ll start to see what items you already own that will play into this color structure and ‘holes’ where you may need to purchase items. That brings us to our next step.
STEP THREE: IDENTIFY ITEMS YOU NEED
You’ve created a general color scheme or have an idea of the colors you are looking for. You’ve identified items you have (and hopefully love) that will complement the fore mentioned color scheme. Now, it’s time to start identifying and selecting items to fill in the ‘holes’ of the wardrobe plan.
Typically, I’d like clients to purchase things that they will wear again and are thus of enough quality to hold up for years to come. However, budgets and availability sometimes steer us more towards fast fashion. I’ll list some excellent sources below for quality neutrals with rich textures:
Roolee - Womens
Roolee Kids - Kids
Rylee + Cru - Baby, Kids, and Women
Bohme - Womens
Aware Marketplace - local, located in Willoughby
Jean and Lou - local, located in Cuyahoga Falls
Amazon List - Need something quick and cheap? Check here for my ever expanding list of wardrobe finds on Amazon.
STEP FOUR: TIE IT ALL TOGETHER
Hopefully you’ve established your ‘mood’, color scheme, and budget. Now it’s time to combine your existing wardrobe pieces with new acquisitions for a final look. I like to hang items next to each other, drape sweaters and wraps over to find combinations that blend together harmoniously. Remember, keep your return receipts, I’ve found that items can easily be misrepresented in color (Amazon, I’m looking at you) and suddenly that beautiful gray dress you ordered is actually purple.
FINAL NOTES
Need inspiration? I find Pinterest and Instagram can provide endless inspiration when I’m at a stand still. Additionally, online fashion blogs, particularly searching ‘neutral capsule wardrobe’ can be endless sources for inspiration and bring clarity to the process.