Let’s face it- picking out outfits for the kids’ photo session can be enough to make you break out in a cold sweat. You want them to look good and  to feel good (uncomfortable kid=unhappy kid and that doesn’t make for cute pictures!). You want to coordinate your them for the group shots, but not to match too much. You don’t want to break the bank, and when on earth are you going to find time to shop?

I’m here to help, and to promise you that with a few tips, it’s not too hard. Here are some guidelines that will help you to get your kids camera-ready in no time:

• stick with 2-3 colors, and build each person’s outfit from a variation of the colors you choose
• you can mix prints- just ground them with a solid color, and try to vary the prints. Mix a large scale print with a small scale one, or mix a plaid with dots, a stripe with a floral
• for a very easy variation, choose one color and pick all your pieces from different shades of that color
• the secret tip that makes life really easy? Stick with one store and take advantage of their collections- they’ve done all the mixing and matching work for you already

I used Gap’s summer clothing to put a few groupings together as examples:

Just a few examples, but the possibilities are endless. Gap isn’t the only place you can do this- other children’s clothing stores with great lines for kids are:

• Crewcuts by J Crew
• Janie and Jack
• Gymboree
• Naartje (online)
• Boden (online)

The last tip is to treat everyone’s outfits as one big outfit- lay them out together, take a step back and be sure nothing jumps out at you and that it all flows well. Also, I’m always available to give you advice or to take a look at what you’re considering. Email or text me a picture, and I’ll give it the ‘Stacy and Clinton’ test- I’ll be sure it doesn’t match, but it goes.