From your little boy to your teen or senior, these family portrait session outfit ideas will help your boys look their best while elevating your photos! Our goal is always to help your family have a memorable portrait experience! So, whether we’re sharing styling tips for choosing your boys’ tops or bottoms or their shoes and accessories, we want to help them feel comfortable and confident throughout your family portrait session!
Color & Design Ideas for Family Portrait Session Outfits
Light, Neutral Colors for Your Boys’ Outfits
Light, neutral colors photograph softer, complement skin tones and make your images look more high-end. So, instead of bright, bold, or neon colors (which can create unflattering skin tones and distractions in your pictures), we suggest coordinating your boys and family’s outfits with light, neutral colors.
Solid Colors & Simple Designs for Your Boys’ Looks
Small, complex patterns (like tiny striped, plaid, or checked designs) can be distracting and create unusual colors in your images. So, we suggest choosing solid colors and simple designs over busy prints and logos for your boys and family’s outfits.
How to Coordinate Your Family Portrait Session Outfits
When coordinating your boys and family’s outfits, we recommend breaking up the colors and shades so you’re not all wearing the same color on top and bottom. The more you can mix it up, the better! Most moms pick their outfits first and then build the rest of the family’s outfits based on that. We suggest choosing colors that coordinate with your outfit for each person’s “dominant” color. Each family member could incorporate a few touches of the other colors that pair well together in their accessories, adding more visual interest to their outfits with “accent” colors. These choices would visually break up the colors and highlight each person, helping all the outfits look connected and cohesive!
Coordinated Family Outfits Example
You could wear a white, camel, pewter blue, and vanilla blush dress with camel heels (making white your dominant color). Your spouse could then wear a pewter blue solid, collared shirt with a cream sweater, a vanilla blush tie, tan khakis, and camel dress shoes (making pewter blue his dominant color). Your daughter could then wear a vanilla blush dress with a vanilla blush bow and wafer ballet flats (making vanilla blush her dominant color). Your son could then wear a white solid, collared shirt with a beige suit vest, beige dress pants, a powder blue bow tie, and wafer dress shoes (making beige his dominant color). For more visual interest in your family portraits, you could add other accessories with coordinating accent colors, such as a bouquet or basket of fresh florals, cardigans, ties, suspenders, necklaces, bracelets, or a light-colored blanket!
For more information about what colors to wear and family portrait session outfit ideas, feel free to check out our blog post, “Gorgeous Color Palettes for Fall Family Photos.” Also, you can read some of our other blog posts to learn how to style her, him, and your girls and prepare your family for a family photo session.
Styling Your Boys’ Portrait Outfits, No Matter Their Age
Whether you have a little, older, teen, or senior boy, these family portrait session outfit ideas feature styling tips for various ages, helping your boys look their best while feeling comfortable and confident!
Little Boys (6 Months-5 Years)
We recommend that your little boy wears light, neutral, and solid colors with simple designs. Collared shirts, button-downs, suit vests, knit rompers, sweaters/sweater vests, khakis, dress pants, jeans, and overalls always look great! For his shoes, he could wear closed-toed, leather dress shoes, dress boots, or boat shoes. Layers and accessories are always cute, adding depth and visual interest to your photos! Some of our favorite little boy accessories are:
- bow ties/ties
- suspenders
- newsboy caps
- diaper covers
- a light-colored blanket for him and your family to sit on
For example, your little boy could wear a cream knit romper with tan buttons or powder blue overalls.
Older Boys (6-12 Years)
Like with little boys, we recommend that your older boy wears light, neutral, and solid colors with simple designs. Solid, collared shirts, button-downs, polos, pullovers, suit vests, sweaters/sweater vests, Henley shirts, khakis, jeans, and dress pants will elevate your photos while helping him feel comfortable and confident! For shoes, he could wear closed-toed, leather dress shoes, dress boots, or boat shoes. Layers and accessories always look handsome while adding more depth to your images! Some of our favorite accessories for older boys are:
- bow ties/ties
- suspenders
- newsboy caps
- a light-colored blanket for him and your family to sit on
For example, your older boy could wear a white solid, collared shirt with a navy tie, a navy jean jacket, and tan khakis or a teal solid, collared shirt with a light silver suit vest, a teal and light silver tie, and light silver dress pants.
Teen & Senior Boys (13-18 Years)
Like with younger boys, we recommend that your teen/senior boy wears light, neutral, and solid colors with simple designs.
Helping Him Feel Comfortable and Confident
When deciding what your teen or senior boy should wear for your family portraits, we recommend that he wear tops, bottoms, accessories, and shoes to help him feel comfortable and confident! Please ensure that all his clothes fit snuggly (but not too tight), are the correct length, and his shoes are comfortable.
His Tops
In the same way, a dress is the most flattering silhouette for girls; a blazer, sports coat, or jacket has the same effect on boys. He can’t go wrong with a dress shirt, slacks, and a blazer. We’d suggest avoiding a T-shirt or tank top and opting for a long-sleeved, collared shirt, button-down, polo, Henley shirt, pullover, or sweater/sweater vest. He can roll his sleeves up for a slightly more casual style, giving him two looks with one shirt!
His Bottoms
If the weather permits, we recommend he wears long pants for a more editorial look in your family portraits, such as long:
- dress pants
- slacks
- khakis
- jeans
Colors for His Tops and Bottoms
For his outfit, we recommend selecting a different “weight” for his bottoms and top. For example, he could wear jeans (darker) and a cream sweater (lighter) or camel pants (darker) with a beige polo (lighter). This choice will add visual interest and contrast to your family portraits, elevating your images!
Layered Looks
Layers will add dimension and visual interest to your family portraits, so we highly recommend that your teen/senior boy wears them if the temperature permits!
For example, he could wear a tan solid, collared shirt with a cream pullover, a wafer tie, and tan corduroys or a cream solid, collared shirt with a trinket gold sweater and tan corduroys.
His Shoes & Accessories
Unlike athletic shoes or sandals, closed-toed, leather dress shoes, dress boots, or boat shoes will elevate your family’s portraits while keeping your teen/senior boy’s feet warm during colder weather!
Regardless of the season, accessories always create a polished touch for your family photos! Some of our favorite accessories for teen/senior boys are:
- ties/ bow ties
- suspenders
- cuff links
- newsboy caps
- a light-colored blanket for him and your family to sit on
Styling Your Boys’ Outfits for Colder Weather
During colder weather, we suggest your boy pairs a jacket or blazer with a button-down or wears long dress pants or jeans with a cozy sweater or sweater vest. For shoes, he could wear closed-toed, leather dress shoes, dress boots, or boat shoes.
Dressing your boy in layers and warm accessories will help him stay warm during family portraits while adding more visual interest to your images! Some of our favorite cold-weather accessories for boys are:
- hats
- mittens
- scarves
- sweater vests/sweaters
- blazers
- dress or jean jackets
- newsboy caps
- a light-colored blanket for your boys and family to sit on
Optional Outfit Change Tip (for 75-Minute Family Portrait Experiences)
If your family has a 75-Minute Family Portrait Experience, you can include an optional outfit change in your session, adding more variety to your family portraits! If you decide to incorporate an outfit change, we suggest your boy arrives in a formal outfit and packs a casual one for later in your session. It’ll help your family portrait session end on a more comfortable, relaxing note! Also, we recommend coordinating the outfit he wears to your family session with the outfit change he brings so all the images in your gallery and blog post (if you choose to have a blog post) will pair well together and look cohesive! Feel free to check out the optional outfit changes for boys below for family portrait session outfit ideas.
Little Boy Optional Outfit Change for a Powder Blue, White, & Navy Family Portrait Session Outfit Idea
If your little boy wears a white solid, collared shirt with white dress bottoms and a white bow tie to your session, he could pack a powder blue knit romper with tan buttons. That way, the two outfits would coordinate while capturing elegant and slightly casual portraits all in one session!
For a more casual portrait experience, if he wears a powder blue knit romper with tan buttons to your session, he could bring jean overalls. That way, the two outfits would coordinate and complement one another, making your family portraits look editorial with a casual style! To capture a formal and casual look, if he wears a white solid, collared shirt with white dress bottoms and a white bow tie to your session, he could pack jean overalls for an outfit change.
Older Boy Optional Outfit Change for a Powder Blue, Navy, & Tan Family Portrait Session Outfit Idea
If your older boy wears a powder blue and white checkered, collared shirt, a powder blue pullover, and tan khakis to your session, he could pack a white solid, collared shirt with a navy jean jacket, a navy tie, and tan khakis. That way, the two outfits would coordinate while capturing elegant and slightly casual portraits all in one session!
For a more casual portrait experience, if he wears a white solid, collared shirt with a navy jean jacket, a navy tie, and tan khakis to your session, he could bring a white solid, collared shirt with a powder blue bow tie and jeans. That way, the two outfits would coordinate and complement one another, making your family portraits look editorial with a casual style! To capture a formal and casual look, if he wears a powder blue and white checkered, collared shirt, a powder blue pullover, and tan khakis to your session, he could pack a white solid, collared shirt with a powder blue bow tie and jeans.
Teen/Senior Boy Optional Outfit Change for a Powder Blue, Beige, & Navy Family Portrait Session Outfit Idea
If your teen/senior boy wears a powder blue long-sleeved, collared shirt with a beige sweater, a wafer tie, and tan corduroys to your session, he could pack a beige collared shirt with a navy sweater and tan corduroys. That way, the two outfits would coordinate while capturing elegant and slightly casual portraits all in one session!
For a more casual portrait experience, if he wears a beige collared shirt with a navy sweater and tan corduroys to your session, he could bring a white solid, collared shirt with a navy tie and jeans. That way, the two outfits would coordinate and complement one another, making your family photos look editorial with a casual style! To capture a formal and casual look, if he wears a powder blue long-sleeved, collared shirt with a beige sweater, a wafer tie, and tan corduroys to your session, he could pack a white solid, collared shirt with a navy tie and jeans.
One Final Note
We hope these family portrait session outfit ideas for styling boys will help your boys have the best portrait experience and feel comfortable and confident! Feel free to email us at Jenn@JenniferHallPhotographyLLC.com if you have any questions.
We believe children are some of God’s greatest blessings and treasures; love and cherish them 🙂 Love you lots!
