The easiest answer to what to wear for lifestyle newborn photos is: whatever you want. The End.

But I don’t think that’s the most helpful answer. So here we are. Advice on what to wear for lifestyle newborn photos.

As is true for most of my sessions, I start with a few general guidelines about what to wear. 

First and foremost, I believe comfort supercedes fashion every day of the week. This is a hill that I may die on, and I will never be the best dressed person in the room when it’s time to get fancy. I’ve come to terms with this. 

However, I also don’t think that you need to be schlubby in order to be comfortable, and the line between sweatpants and ball gowns is not a fine one. There’s a whole spectrum of clothing in there, and somewhere in the middle is the casual, well-fitting, timeless, comfortable, true-to-you fashion choice that will make you (all) feel confident and beautiful, and help your newborn’s photos last.

The second rule, that may even be more important than the first one, when dressing for newborn photos at home: don’t dress to perfectly match anyone else in your family. Coordinating colors = great. Matchy matchy = not so much. 

Why not matchy matchy? It’s not at all about how I personally feel about matching someone else, and everything to do with how you’ll look in the photos. Even if you think you look cute matching your partner, when you get snuggled in next to them on the couch and you look like one big torso with two heads in your photos, I bet you’ll change your mind. 

I do think it’s a good idea to coordinate, so that you don’t color clash with your partner. Choosing the same color palette is a good starting point. I have ideas in my Pinterest board if you need ideas for what to wear at home. And while it can be more challenging when you and your partner and/or your children have different skin tones, it is possible to choose a color scheme that looks good on all of you, and then have you each wear something that makes you look fantastic. I’ve gone into depth on this before. 

The other big no for photos - either at home or outside - is neon. Avoid neon on yourself or your kids, because as soon as the light hits it, the color bounces up into your face and turns everything else around it that color. 

(Thank you to my young son for illustrating this point. Note the wall and the area around his chin.)

And I’d also argue that you don’t want to wear colors that make you appear to be supporting a pro team or college athletics as a family. Unless that’s your thing and what you want to remember. It just needs to be an active choice. (Go Rams!)

Need specific ideas for how to dress for your in-home newborn lifestyle photos? 

• Maternity clothes may still be the way to go for you, and some of them are super cute while also being super comfortable. 

• Choose a dress only if you wear dresses regularly. Consider if your session will include nursing photos, or what will happen if you need to nurse the baby during the session. Will you need to disappear upstairs with the baby for 30 minutes while you nurse because you have to take the dress off? We can spend our session time however you prefer, but that won’t leave us a lot of time for photos. 

• Babies don’t need to be in white onesies - you can do that if it’s easier for you, or you can leave them only in a diaper. Or you can dress them to the nines, but I recommend their style match yours and the rest of the family. (Matching style, coordinating color.)

• Sometimes older siblings will drag their feet on the weirdest stuff when a new baby shows up, just to restore some semblance of control over their lives. You can lean into this and give them some wardrobe options, and let them have ultimate say over what they wear. They’ll be more excited about cooperating if they aren’t mad about wearing something they hate. 

• Introducing texture, like baby blankets, sweaters (for fall/winter), cotton eyelet tops or dresses (for spring/summer), denim or corduroy overalls on toddlers (swoon), can really bring visual interest to a pile of people as you all cuddle together. 

• I’m not kidding about the fuzzy socks on the newborn page on my website. Nothing about your lifestyle newborn photos has to be sterile, perfect, light, bright, or white. Your session is meant to celebrate your family, in this particular moment of time. Personalize it however you like. 

I could go on. If you’re really at a loss, I’m here for you and all my Richmond newborn photo clients via text at any point during your prep time. You can text me for a second opinion or even just where to start, and I’ll give you some pointers.