The Trailblazing Tog
- Feb 28, 2020
- 4 min read

What Should I Wear!?

Updated: Sep 15, 2020

Hi dear! Soooo... you've booked a session and here comes the first question that pops into your mind... "What should I wear!?" In this blog post, I'm going to cover what I mean by my go to phrase, colors and color palettes, and adding texture to your wardrobe!

I always tell my clients my go to phrase:

Be yourself & add a little!

Aspynn, now what does that mean?

That means...

...if you are a western gal, wear a little more turquoise that you usually do! Go ahead! Layer it on!

...if you are a sparkle lady, add a touch more highlighter to your your Cupid's bow & cheekbones! It will go great with your diamonds!

...if you are a simple, chic lady, add an extra bright color that matches or complements your eyes! Girl, it will make them pop!

Colors & Color Palettes

Have you noticed that some colors automatically bring out the color of your skin or eyes better than others? Do you catch yourself saying, "I look best in this color?" Theres a reason why! We are not going to go into an extensive art lesson, but I want to show you something!

It's called the color wheel!

This specific one is from www.photographytalk.com. You've probably seen it in your childhood classrooms.

As a quick recap:

Primary colors are red, yellow, and blue.

Secondary colors are orange, green, and purple.

Neutral colors are white, black, and brown in any variation such as cream, tan, or gray.

Accent colors can be any of the colors above as well as "metals" such as gold, silver, or copper.

When planning your outfit for a session, think about picking one main color and choosing a neutral color. Then, if you have more than one person especially, choosing an appropriate accent color or two can really tie everyone together without "perfectly" matching.

An appropriate accent color can be any of these examples:

It can be a complimentary color. These are the colors that are across from each other on the color wheel, such as red & green, yellow & purple, blue and orange.
Accent colors can also be an analogous color! Analogous colors are the colors that are touching on the color wheel, such as the group <yellow-orange, orange, and red-orange> or <blue-green, blue, blue-violet>!
Another way to choose an accent color is by split complementary colors. Every wonder why blue and gold look so good together? It's not just because the bacon is the best either! Split complementary is why! You choose a main color in this case yellow-orange (gold), go across the color wheel, and choose one of the two colors on either side of that color! So if you chose yellow-orange (gold), you go across the color wheel to blue-violet, then choose either blue or violet to be your accent color!
A final way to choose an accent color is to incorporate a "metal" color. These are silver (such as a very bright gray), gold (a darkened deep yellow), or copper (such as a toned down brown/orange). This can also be done through jewelry, shiny fabrics, sparkling fabrics, or incorporation of hat bands, belts, and other accessories.

Whew! That was a lot! Let's have a few examples!

Analogous example:

In this photo, the client chose an emerald green for her main color, black as her neutral color, and silver as her accent color in her jewelry and his jacket and glasses! She created a double accent color by dressing her man in an analogous, navy blue shirt to her emerald skirt.

Complementary example:

In the photo below, the client chose to highlight her eyes in her outfit. She did this by matching her sweater blue to her eyes as her main color. Her neutral color was silver, which she incorporated into her jewelry. She chose the accent color by choosing the color orange which is a complementary color to her blue sweater. She used an orange tint to her eyes and lips!

Split complementary example:

In this photo, the client chose her main color to be her yellow-orange dress! She used split complementary colors by adding a blue denim jacket! To complete her look, she accented with white and silver jewelry both pulling a metal and neutral color!

Metal example:

Quite literally, gold! Here the client chose black as both her neutral and main color. She, then, added a large gold necklace/body jewelry, earrings, bracelets, and belt as an accent!

Adding Texture

A final way to make your photos really stand out is by adding a texture! The easiest way to explain a texture is if you touch the fabric and it is not smooth, it is a texture! Some textures to consider including into your wardrobe are lace, leather, fur, knit items, denim, suede, fringe, velvet, and satin to name a few.

Here the client is adding the texture of fur. (Animal print is always a neutral in my opinion! Haha!) You can see how it adds an extra element to the photo to allow her to stand out even more!

Here the client added a lace top, which just makes this image twice as adorable! Lace is a very feminine texture. It is commonly used in weddings, engagement photos, and senior girl photos for this reason!

Leather is that bad booty texture with it's sheen, zippers, and studs. But, you can lighten it up and create a more fun image by purchasing leather in a color, such as this client did!

The use of fringe is a fantastic way to add texture! This couple is using fringe as a removable, highlight texture through her grandmother's shawl wrap.

Saving my personal favorite for last, denim! Denim is the absolute Queen of Textures! It can be used as a rock and roll fabric (as seen here), a western fabric, a feminine fabric, a masculine fabric, a boho fabric, and so much more!

Any Questions!?

Gosh dang, Aspynn! Ladies...I hear you! It's a lot of information! As always, feel free to text, call, or message me anytime! I would be so beyond thrilled to talk through how to be you + a tad, clothing options, color palettes, and textures with you! Shoot me a quick message or drop me a line! I'd love to hear from you!