Style Guide... When you aren't so stylish?

[Cajungaltx]

I admit it...I hate shopping. Seriously. My DH enjoys it more than I do... and in fact... HE normally takes ME shopping... and our daughters.... I'm glad I married the guy.

I could care less about clothes. Jeans, tshirt, and boots... I'm good. Shorts, sweater and flip-flops... I'm good.

Which makes me completely freaking useless at telling seniors what to wear to look 'good'. I noticed alot of the photographers that focus on seniors offer a style guide... what to wear.... etc... which I think is a brilliant idea... but I had to MARRY 'my' style guide....lol... don't think the parents would go for that....lol.

Do any of you do that?

How did you come up with it?

Anyone care to share so that I can absorb ideas? *lol*

[CaptainTom]

I'm so backwoods I don't know what DH stands for. I thought I did, but apparently not.

[HotHolly]

Look at Cosmo, Glamor, etc to see what HS seniors to college kids are wearing and how they are wearing it. There are some basic rules - like dont wear bright colors on bottom (w/ dark on top) if you are a girl - you'll look like you have a huge a$$. Watch What Not To Wear. They point out screw ups and what looks good. Layering always looks good. And then color palettes. If you suck at that, pick up a paint swatch or 10 from Lowes where they have all the color combos together. Tell the kids to bring a mess of clothes and pick out their outfits with their help. I usually tell them to bring anything they think will look cool. We use lots of it.

[Mindy H]

Originally Posted by HotHolly

like dont wear bright colors on bottom (w/ dark on top) if you are a girl - you'll look like you have a huge a$$.

LMAO! Can I write it just like that too? I always want to...then maybe they would listen. I always want to add....if you don't want to look like a slut, then don't dress like one when you come to see me.

[Cajungaltx]

Originally Posted by CaptainTom

I'm so backwoods I don't know what DH stands for. I thought I did, but apparently not.

Dear husband.... although on a bad day it could be damned husband...

[Cajungaltx]

Originally Posted by HotHolly

Look at Cosmo, Glamor, etc to see what HS seniors to college kids are wearing and how they are wearing it. There are some basic rules - like dont wear bright colors on bottom (w/ dark on top) if you are a girl - you'll look like you have a huge a$$. Watch What Not To Wear. They point out screw ups and what looks good. Layering always looks good. And then color palettes. If you suck at that, pick up a paint swatch or 10 from Lowes where they have all the color combos together. Tell the kids to bring a mess of clothes and pick out their outfits with their help. I usually tell them to bring anything they think will look cool. We use lots of it.

I need to be ON that show....lol... thanks for the suggestion... I'll go hit Barnes & Noble... lol...

[carrbowl]

Donna, I need to email you a photo of "our" closet...I'm counting now...27 shirts on my side..really bad news..8 of them are turtle necks and we live in Houston!! My husbands side, 72. What do I want as gifts?? Clothes...someone please go buy me clothes...I will give you money!!! And we actually live in this world of Abercrombie and Hollister?? How do we survive???

[HotHolly]

Originally Posted by Mindy H

LMAO! Can I write it just like that too? I always want to...then maybe they would listen. I always want to add....if you don't want to look like a slut, then don't dress like one when you come to see me.

Sure, you can quote me so you dont sound like a jerk. They'll think, wow she's rude. But hey, all my clients look their thinnest. No one says, Wow, that's some B.O.B. you got going on there! And that's just bad for business!

[ShaneKislack]

I got tired of worrying about style. So I went to the Levi's store and bought several pairs of dark levis. They have NEVER been out of style. Top that off with white t shirts or white oxfords from the GAP. Multiples of those too.

Add some Khakis from the GAP and you are set forever.

[toverman]

My guess is that older teen girls are looking at women's fashion mags and their favorite celebrities for cues on what to wear. If you know what the trends are, then you can adapt a style guide that injects some common sense into it. The other side of the coin is posing (there are good books out there on this), and there are ways to pose someone no matter what they are wearing to make them as good as possible.

QUICK EDIT: Part of being a teen-ager is looking ridiculous. I mean, "expressing themselves." So many girls are going to have their own style. To me, photos of them should at least give a hint of that. Again, it goes back to posing. Does anybody have issues with senior guys? Unless they dress like the Jonas Brothers, they should be OK on their own.

[HotHolly]

I think you can allow them to dress to the trends and still some outfits will look better than others. It usually has to do with fit, lack of logos, strategic placement of odd-ball colors/patterns, and overall color scheme of your subject with your background.

At least that's the drive-by version of what I am looking for when they bring in a pile of clothes. If we are shooting against the sky, blue walls, etc and they like bright happy stuff, I look for oranges that will really pop. If they are more subdued personality, I look for more of a monochrome look. Maybe add a pop of color with a hat or something that can be removed.

If you dont know your color wheel, get to be BFFs. Example: If you put some colors next to each other, they look brighter. Color affects the mood of your images. It helps when picking out which clothes look better with what background colors, etc.