What to Wear for a Film-Inspired Session

The question I get most before every session isn't about location or timing. It's "what should we wear?" — usually followed by a screenshot of three outfits and a small note of panic.

So here's the honest answer, and it's shorter than you'd hope: wear something that feels like you, in colors the light will love. That's most of it. But since "be yourself" is useless advice when you're staring at a closet, let's get specific.

Think in tones, not outfits

Film-inspired photos live in a certain palette: warm, soft, a little muted, like a memory instead of a screenshot. The clothes that sit best in that world are the ones that share it: cream, rust, ochre, olive, camel, dusty blue, faded rose, brown, soft white.

What fights it: neon anything, large logos or graphics, and stark pure white or jet black in big doses; they flatten into blank shapes where film tones want depth. Tiny, busy patterns can also shimmer strangely on camera; if you love a pattern, bigger and softer is safer.

You don't need to match each other. You need to sit in the same palette. Pick one anchor outfit — usually whoever cares most — and let everyone else fall in around those tones. Matching is a uniform; coordinating is a family.

Texture is your friend

This is the one people skip, and it makes the biggest difference. Film-style images love things that catch light: linen, corduroy, knits, denim, lace, leather, a wool hat. Texture gives the grain something to hold onto. A chunky cardigan photographs like a memory; a polyester blend photographs like a work call.

If it would look at home in a photo from 1978, it will look right in these.

Movement matters more than fit

My sessions are unposed — you'll be walking, spinning kids, leaning into each other, sitting in grass. Clothes need to survive that. Long skirts and dresses that catch wind are magic on camera. So are layers you can shed or wrap. Anything you'll tug at, pull down, or worry about will show up in your shoulders in every frame.

Here is the perfect test: put the outfit on and sit on the floor. If you can't, it's not the one.

For the littles

Comfort wins, full stop. A kid in an itchy collar is an itchy collar with a face. Dress them in the same palette, skip the brand-new shoes (they'll be running), and bring the backup outfit you already know you should bring.

And if they show up and refuse the outfit entirely — that's fine. The photo of who they actually are this year beats the photo of the outfit every time.

What not to overthink

Hair, minor wrinkles, the thing you think is wrong with your arms. Grain and soft light are kind — far kinder than your bathroom mirror. Nobody has ever looked back at a photo of themselves holding their kid and noticed the wrinkle in the sleeve.

A note on fall

I'm writing this now for a reason: fall session dates are now open, and they're limited. If autumn photos are on your mind — the warm light, the good layers, all that texture we just talked about — this is the season this palette was made for. Keep an eye here and on Instagram for dates.

In the meantime: check your closet before you shop. The soft, worn, lived-in things you already own are usually the ones that photograph best. That's sort of the whole point.