Wardrobe Wednesday {Spotlight on Tea Collection}

I am SO excited for this week's post as this is one of my all time favorite clothing line for children! Morgan Dawson, of Morgan Dawson Photography has put together some awesome looks from Tea Collection! I'll let you tell her all about it!

Morgan says:

No matter where you live, the weather is changing every day. Here in upstate New York, the weather the past few days has ranged from the low 50s to the upper 80s with sun, rain and blowing wind.

With things so unpredictable, how do you figure out what to wear for your fall photos?

Flexibility. Layers. Coordinating looks.

You’re probably thinking, “That’s easier said than done!” Don’t worry, I’ve got it all figured out... with a little help from a new favorite store: Tea Collection.

Tea Collection, founded in San Francisco in 2002, offers children’s fashions with the tagline “For little citizens of the world.” They offer two labels: the signature, globally-inspired Collection, and their mix-and-match play clothes called Daily Tea. This season’s Collection is inspired by Old World Hungary, with Spain coming up next spring. Trust me, it’s really cute stuff.

I had a difficult time picking out the outfits below, but only because there were so many options! Most of the items pictured come in sizes for children 6 months to 11 years old, but babies and women (yes, us!) are also represented. As you can see, it’s easy to add a sweater or jacket on top, or leggings and tights on the bottom if the temperature drops. A few items - like the blue sweater, cuffed pants and shoes - are unisex. To make things even easier, Tea has created several “Daily Tea” mix-and-match sets (like a 6-piece coordinated set of three tops and three bottoms for $129) and their “Wear Now Layer Later” collections for girls. How brilliant is that!

Total flexibility mixed with one-stop shopping. What more can you ask for? I hope you have as much fun with it as we are.

Like what you see? Head over to our NEW Wardrobe Wednesday {where fashion meets photography} Facebook page for a chance to win a $100.00 gift certificate from Tea Collection!


What are you waiting for? Click on the Wardrobe Wednesday icon above to visit our FB page now! :)

Wardrobe Wednesday {Playing Dress Up}

Well...I guess we'll call this Wardrobe Thursday? Sorry for the late post but this one is SO much fun! This week we have a guest contributor, Kristi Flower of Kendall's Media in Utah. What she has to say is SO true and something to think about for you brides to be!

FIVE reasons every bride should have bridal portraits taken BEFORE her wedding day:

1. Playing dress-up is FUN. When was the last time you played dress-up?

2. Practice makes perfect. This is the day you will practice your hairstyle, make-up and “wearing” your gown. It’s a great trial run for the wedding day!

3. You can Experiment. Get crazy on the day of your bridals. Add a hairpiece or wear red lipstick! Do something you might not dare to do on your actual wedding day!

4. You get to spend time with your mom, mother-in-law and friends. I always recommend you bring your entourage!

5. It’s ALL about YOU! You deserve to have one day of being pampered and ohhh and awwww’d over!

Below is an example of a recent bridal shoot; I did with the beautiful Taeler. She started the shoot with a glamorous look, golden eyes and nude lips! She also wore the jewelry she planned on wearing on her wedding day. A beautiful cuff bracelet and Crystal oval drop earrings from Nadri. Her jewelry was a shower gift from her mother. Taeler wanted a classic look on her wedding day but also wanted to showcase her great grandmother’s vintage costume jewelry. Instead of adding one more thing on the wedding day we decided we would incorporate the jewelry in her bridals. We did this in her second look, its what I call “Vintage love”. We achieved this by applying red lipstick, a black feather hairpiece (I found at forever 21) and her great grandmother’s vintage costume jewelry. Taeler had NEVER worn red lipstick and was a little timid about it, however, after seeing her photos she was super happy that she tried something different. The third look we changed locations and she really let her hair down. She wanted a more urban feel. I found a beautiful turquoise garage (car repair shop). She really let loose and had a fabulous time dancing and flipping her hair around! In a matter of two hours we achieved three totally different looks! Simple changes can make a dramatic difference!



Helpful Tips for a smooth sailing bridal session:
1. Schedule your bridal session at least six to eight weeks before your wedding date.
2. When scheduling your hair and make-up allow for at least three hours.
3. Bring the following items in a bag to your bridal session:
* comfy shoes
* a white sheet
* baby wipes
* make-up
* hair spray
* water
* snacks
* comb or brush
* jewelry

4. If you’re planning on having a floral bouquet in your portraits, order it at least a week in advance. Pick it up a couple of hours before your session.
5. Invite people you feel comfortable around!
6. Bring your ipod.
7. Make sure you eat, even if it’s an apple and lettuce! A lightheaded bride= a cranky bride!
8. Make sure you have your bridal gown, slip, bustier and shoes.
9. Review fashion magazine or bridal magazines to get an idea about posing. Your photographer will always guide you but it doesn’t hurt to have your own moves.
10. Have FUN!!


MAKE UP RESOURCES
Vintage look
Face:
MAC Cosmetics
Pro Longwear SPF 10 foundation…$29.50
http://www.maccosmetics.com/product/shaded/158/10180/Pro-Longwear-SPF-10-Foundation/index.tmpl
Bronzer:
MAC Cosmetics
Bronzing Powder…Golden…$22.00
http://www.maccosmetics.com/product/shaded/159/302/Bronzing-Powder/index.tmpl
Cheeks:
MAC Cosmetics
BlushCreme…Posey…$18.50
http://www.maccosmetics.com/product/shaded/156/879/Blushcreme/index.tmpl
Eyes:
MAC Cosmetics
Eye Kit…Trip: 4 bronze eyes and cheeks…$32.00
http://www.maccosmetics.com/product/2222/9277/Trip-4-Bronze-Eyes-Cheek/index.tmpl
Eye liner:
Sephora Collection
Long lasting eye liner…deep black…$10.00
http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P138204&categoryId=B70
False eyelashes:
MAC Cosmetics
6 lash…$14.00
http://www.maccosmetics.com/product/150/298/6-Lash/index.tmpl
Mascara:
FusionBeauty
Lashfusion XL Micro Technology Instant lash Volumizer…black…$10.00
http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P236301&categoryId=B70
Lips:
Kat Von D
Adora painted red lipstick…$18.00
Sephora.com
http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P265704&categoryId=B70
Achieve a subtler look by changing your lipstick.
Lips:
Sephora Collection
Lip attitude Star…$12.00
http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P198600&categoryId=B70
Sephora Collection
Ultra Shine Lip gloss
Shiny Natural look…$14.00
http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P266811&categoryId=B70

Jewelry and hair accessory

Hair accessory:
Forever 21
vintage black feather hairpiece
Black feather headband was purchased at forever 21…$4.80
http://www.forever21.com
Jewelry:
Nordstrom
Nadri Constellation Oval earrings…$58.00
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/3132198?origin=category&resultback=986
Bracelet:
Designer is Nadri and can be purchased at Nordstrom
A similar bracelet is Nadri Fine Points Chrystal bangel…$158.00
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/3105729?origin=PredictiveSearch&resultback=6745
Vintage earrings:
Taeler’s great grandmother’s
Great place to find vintage costume jewelry
http://www.etsy.com search vintage costume jewelry
Vintage diamond necklace:
Taeler’s great grandmother’s
Fun costume jewelry can be found on etsy.com and I’ve had great luck with forever21.com
Taeler’s Wedding Gown:
Gateway Bridal in Salt Lake City, Utah
http://www.gatewaybridal.com/
Taeler’s Hair and Make-Up Artist
Lezlee Jones…The Salon in Bountiful, Utah

Wardrobe Wednesday {What to Wear for Extended Family Portraits}

Who's gearing up for their annual extended family shoot?!?! Worried about how to coordinate every single one of you?!?! Lindsay Horn of Lindsay Horn Photography has some FAB U LOUS ideas! Check out what she has to say and look at her beautiful extended family pic! See how well everyone coordinates but doesn't necessarily match?

So you’ve been reading our posts every week and have gotten really knowledgeable about dressing your family for your portrait session, right? And then it happens ….about every 5-10 years everyone gets together for an EXTENDED family portrait session. Don’t panic, I know what you are thinking: “How in the world will we coordinate (and not match) different groups of people who may not even live in the same place? It’s impossible. That’s it, white shirts and jeans it is.” NOOOOOO! It’s not impossible, I promise! I just went through this lovely process with my own extended family, and I’m going to help you do it too, step by step.

1) Get everyone on board. This will be a team effort, so you need to have a pep talk with everybody and make sure they are all on the same page. Make sure everyone understands what you are trying to do – show them examples from these posts to help give them an idea of the “coordinated” look we always try to achieve. Let them see that they won’t be disappointed in the results!

2) Do your research. Before picking a color scheme, I suggest actually going around to some stores and seeing what colors are “in” at the time. We did NOT do this, and it didn’t take walking out of too many stores empty-handed to realize that purple was the color of the season, and our chosen burgundy accent was hardly anywhere to be found. Doing a little research ahead of time will make it so much easier in the long run.

3) Pick a color scheme. In my opinion, it’s easiest with larger extended family groups to keep your color choices simple, leaving less room for error. We picked some basic neutral colors (cream, taupe, and denim) and then used burgundy for our accent color. Simple works well, but also be specific when needed. We chose taupe and not “browns” because I don’t think a dark brown would have looked nearly as good among the other colors. Once you’ve made a choice, communicate it clearly to the rest of the group. We actually pulled some of these colors out of my mom’s closet, took an iPhone picture, and sent it to everyone else along with some written notes. Visuals never hurt! J

4) Raid your closet, hit the stores, and keep your receipts! It’s important to have options, especially if everyone lives in different places and you can’t check things out in advance. We arranged to meet at my parent’s house an hour before leaving for the session so we could see what everyone came up with and make final wardrobe decisions. We each came with more than one option in case there was color-clashing, too much of one color, etc. Yes, that means I made a round of returns the following week, but it was worth the peace of mind knowing we had our bases covered. If you can’t meet in one place, just plan on getting to the session early – you can always change in your car if needed.

FINAL TIPS: First, our usual “rules of thumb” still apply – textures, layers, and accessories all make for a great outfit. Secondly, make sure your family unit looks well-coordinated alone as you’ll likely be taking some individual family pictures too. What looks good as a part of the large group may not necessarily look good in a smaller unit (for example, if you are all wearing a different color). That brings me to my final tip – use your accessories wisely. Particularly if you happen to be wearing mostly neutral colors, let your accessories add the accent color, which will help seamlessly tie your look into everyone else’s. Below, you can see we used red and cream jewelry, a red tank top, and a giant red flower bow to do this, and the pops of color here and there really make a difference. So, with all of that said, here’s the final product (thank you Erica May)! I couldn’t be more pleased with how it turned out, and what I love most about it is that it looks like US - as in we don’t typically hang out together in matching white shirts and jeans, and I bet you don’t either. :)







Shopping List – I’ll only list what my family unit wore to keep this from turning into a book, but the majority of everyone else’s outfits were from Target, Kohl’s, and Nordstrom Rack (my new FAVORITE store).

ME (Second from the left)

Tank top – Nordstrom Rack

Jeans – Gap

Jewelry – Necklaces (Claire’s); Earrings & Bracelets (not shown, but cute! J Dillard’s on sale)


HUBBY

Button-up shirt – J Crew (Clearance)

Khaki shorts – Old Navy


ADORABLE DAUGHTER

Top – Baby Gap (Clearance)

Jean Skirt – Old Navy

Sandals – Target

Red Bow – Claire’s

If you're still thinking about booking a family session for the holidays....stop thinking and act fast! I have only a few sessions available!

Wardrobe Wednesday {Flatter Your Figure-Part 1}

Oh how I LOVE this week's installment of Wardrobe Wednesday! Our Wardrobe Wednesday posts are all fine and dandy IF you can pull off the look. But what good does it do if we post something that will flatter a super thin person, and not a more shapely person? Kelly Valeri of Kelly V. Photography in Pennsylvania will be clearing that dilemma up with a series of what to wear for your body type! This installment's featured body type is PEAR.

Read what she has to say!

We've all seen feature articles in fashion magazines and even TV talk show segments about how to choose the right bathing suit for your body type, but what about regular clothes? Certain types of clothing definitely flatter particular body types. And lets face it, we'd all like to accentuate our best features and subtly hide the ones we're not so fond of -- especially when it comes to picking clothes for a portrait session.

With that in mind, when it's my turn to do Wardrobe Wednesday for the next few rounds, I'm going to highlight each one of the four female body shapes -- pear, apple, hourglass and rectangle -- and discuss what to look for when shopping, as well as what to stay away from.

PEAR SHAPE

Typically pear-shaped women have:

• A long or slender neck
• Sloping or narrow shoulders
• Narrow back
• Small to medium bust
• Defined waist
• Curvy hips and backside
• Full thighs and calves

It's all about balance
Ideally, giving the appearance of wider shoulders and a bigger bust will help take attention off the widest part of the body and bring the eyes up to your face, neck, bust and waist. Overplay your upper body and give your lower body a slimmer, sleeker look by using color on top, wide necklines, accentuate your waist and wear dark colors on the bottom.

Tops
For pear-shaped women, think details when it comes to tops. Prints, textured fabrics, great necklines and bright colors all help balance your lower half. Tanks with cute ruffled sleeves or wide-set straps will help to visually widen the chest and shoulders. Look for necklines that are scooped, draped, come to a V, rounded or squared. Halter tops will also add width to your shoulders and get that balance mentioned earlier.

Undoubtedly there are going to be lots of options at almost every women's clothing store, but when it comes to pear shapes, no one does it better in my opinion than Ann Taylor. All of the following outfits are from this fall's Loft collection:

Pants
Look for pants that are flared or have a wide leg. This will help hide thicker thighs. Go for mid-rise dark jeans (the darker the better) and dark pants. This gives the illusion of a slimmer hips and bottoms.

Here are some great flared pants and dark-washed jeans perfect for pear shapes:

Skirts and dresses
When dressing up, try to achieve the same balance. Look for A-line skirts and loose-fitting, drapy fabric in dark, solid colors and subtle patterns. Dresses with an empire waist or a wrap dress that is tighter-fitting on top and flows over your bottom half is ideal.

And you don't necessarily need to be afraid of all-around color. The center example is a great option for pear shapes that really would play up your curves.

What to avoid
Stay away from body-hugging bottoms like tight skirts, skinny jeans or pants with a tapered leg. Those clothes will only accentuate the widest part of your body. Also avoid straight, floor-length skirts. The skirt starts wide at your hips and gives you one, thick straight block of fabric all the way to the ground.

Avoid bold, bright colors and attention-grabbing patterns on the bottom, as well as high-waisted pants, which tend to make your hips look larger. Jeans with too many details at the top such as extra pockets or embroidery should also be avoided.

Also stay away from straight, shapless jackets that stop at the widest part of your hips.

I am loving the variety of samples and ideas! I hope you do, too...and I hope this has helped all of you pear shaped individuals out there get an idea of what you'd like to wear for your photoshoot!

xo

Wardrobe Wednesday {Coordinating without "Matching"}

This week's Wardrobe Wednesday is brought to you by Jennifer Minor of Minor Impressions Photography in Rockwall, TX. She explains why it's best NOT to dress everybody in the same exact thing.

Southwest Florida readers, she's in the SAME boat as us w/ the heat..so listen up! :)

Jennifer says:
"Here in Texas, it’s still HOT and the thought of putting together an outfit for the fall just seemed downright dreadful! If you’re anything like me, you like to procrastinate a little bit, and you can’t help but laugh (or cry) at the thought of planning anything for the holidays already. But, here it is September, and most photographers are beginning to schedule those family sessions right now. So, don’t wait too long and miss out on your chance to have the holiday card everyone is talking about!!

Alright, now that you've scheduled your family session, what to wear?? You would think that it would be easier to just have everyone wear the same color shirt and be done with it, right?! Not so fast - it is almost always inevitable that someone purchases a cream shirt instead of a white one, or maybe their black shirt is a little more faded than yours, or your idea of red is a little bit closer to maroon than cherry red. It’s usually MUCH harder to match all of the same colors instead of coordinating around one outfit. In the wardrobe below, I've picked out a dress for the girl that has multiple colors. Everyone else has a shirt or sweater that blends in with at least one of the colors of the dress. Add a few accessories and voila, you have a matching ensemble without trying to "match" 4 shirts of the same color."



SHOPPING LIST:

Girl's Outfit
Sweater Dress - JCPenney - $19.99
Boots - Kohls - $39.99
Headband - LovMely Accessories - $15.00

Boy's Outfit
Polo - JCPenney - $7.99
Jeans - Kohls - $17.99
Shoes - Kohls - $34.99

Mom's Outfit
Sweater - Old Navy - $34.50
Jeans - Old Navy - $25.00
Boots - Kohls - $28.99
Bracelet - JCPenney - $10.99
Earrings - JCPenney - $8.99

Dad's Outfit
Shirt - Kohls - $27.99
Jeans - Kohls - $36.99
Shoes - Kohls - $39.99