What should we wear?

So, you’ve locked down a date for your photo session… and if you’re a woman, the first thing that hits you is “I don’t have anything to wear!”  if you are a man, I’m sure you’ve heard your lady say that many times on many different occasions. I’m guilty of it too. Piles of clothes strewn all over the place trying to find the perfect outfit.

Well, today I set up my studio for a session tomorrow and I decided it was finally time for a new family portrait. My last one was taken when my daughter was around a month old…. She’ll be 1 Saturday. (Whoa.) While my husband complained about doing the pictures this instant (what man wouldn’t) I persuaded forced him to do it.

I started going from closet to closet trying to find something. All the while yelling speaking loudly to my husband to get off the Xbox 360 and come help. (Do you think he turned off the game? Of course not… Men.)

Here’s how the hunt for a coordinating, but not totally matching, outfits went down:

My son’s wardrobe is pretty limited, he wears pajamas all day and play clothes when we’re out. But, I had just found a pair of plaid shorts from last year that would still fit him. Oh wait… the only matching shirt (also from last year) is way too short. So, I kept searching through his closet, and I found a couple polo’s. There was a green one I liked, so I took it and went to my daughters dresser. Crud. There was nothing that looked good with it. Then, like the shining sun, I saw my daughters bright yellow capris! Score! I just saw a yellow and white striped polo in my sons closet! Add the only “nice” shorts my son has (Khaki) and a white top for my daughter and they’re done!

Whew! Now I have to find something in MY closet to match… yikes. I went through my husbands side first. He only wears khakis, so that was a no brainer. Seriously, the man does not own a pair of jeans owns one pair of jeans that were a gift and never wears them. So, I thew them at him while he was still paying the Xbox 360 and told him to put them on. He was still in disbelief that I was going to force him to quit playing a game to take some family pictures.

So, here’s the even “funnier” stuff… so, the kids are wearing yellow and white. Do you think my husband owns a yellow shirt? Surprisingly there was one in his closet… circa 1998. No kidding. And, the kicker, it was actually my sisters. No, she’s not as big as a man, that was sadly the style back then… to wear a mans polo much larger than you need.  *shakes head* what were we thinking? So, I threw that at him and went to my side.

OK, remember the whole “I don’t have anything to wear moment”… insert that here ____

I’m looking and looking through my pitiful amount of clothes. (Seriously, how does my husband have MORE clothes than me?) Well, I remembered I had just bought a couple tee-shirts from target, two of them where yellow. I got one off the hanger, looked at it and went “What am I thinking?! Everyone is wearing a polo or something nice, this won’t coordinate. ” Then it hit me… hidden in a JCPenney’s bag… in the back of the closet… was a brand new white eyelet dress. (Thanks Mom!) I hadn’t worn it yet, but I fell in love when I saw it and had always wanted a dress like that. (Can I give another thanks to my mom? She bought it for me… THANKS MOM!)

So… there you have it in a not so small nutshell. Oh, and least I forget… footwear… when in doubt… go barefoot. Kids feet are too cute to hide behind shoes. As you can see… it IS possible to have a cute, coordinating family without buying a single thing. If I can do it, you can too! Seriously.

What have we learned today?

• Start with the person that has the least amount of options and work your way through the family.
• Don’t match. Coordinate.
• Pick one main color (White) one neutral (Khaki) and one pop of color (Yellow)
• Show your personalities (yes, my sister’s polo is kind of my husband personality, he lives in polos and tees… just never wore that one)
• Go barefoot