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Coordinating kids’ outfits for pictures without matching

Thanks to Osh Kosh for sponsoring today’s post on coordinating family outfits for pictures (and for making darling kids’ clothes we’ve been wearing for years). 

Tips for coordinating kid’s outfits / What to wear for special occasions and photo shoots:

So you have a spring wedding coming up? Or you’re looking for the perfect outfits for Easter Sunday? Or maybe you’re just trying to coordinate kids’ outfits for a family photo shoot (and I say “just” lightly because planning outfits for family photos always ends up being  more work than I bargained for)?

The kids’ outfits for Easter arrived earlier this week and they were too cute not to share with you! Everything they both have on is from Osh Kosh and right now they have so many darling options that are 50% off online (because shopping with two little kids in a store just doesn’t happen very often these days).

Pick a color palette

An easy way to look coordinating but not too matching is to stick to neutrals with one or two accent colors. In these pictures we stuck with navy, whites, and blues with pink as the accent color.

Keep in mind that you don’t want too much of that accent color and to balance it out between siblings. So Lincoln has a lot of pink in his shirt and Adelaide has only a little of it in her shoes.

A good rule of thumb is to have one item of clothing be in the accent color and then only have that color show up again in accents. Of course, if you’re working with more than two kids, it would be appropriate to have the accent color show up more than just once.

 

 

Consider matching sets broken up between siblings.

One of my favorite ways to see siblings of the same gender coordinating without wearing the same outfit is when a matching set is broken up between siblings.

For example, if you have a seer sucker suit, one boy could wear the pants and a polo, the other could wear the jacket with shorts and a button down. You’ll get coordinating pictures but they won’t be in the same outfit.

You can achieve this same look with siblings of different genders by shopping the same line of clothing and finding a pattern used in both. In this look you could imagine a seer sucker bow or headband would work really well to match Adelaide’s outfit to Lincoln’s pants.

If you shop the same brand, their line for that season will often do most of this work for you. For example, when I was browsing Osh Kosh’s site for Easter outfits, there were lots of neutrals with some pastel pink and green options. Their special occasion spring line is so cohesive it makes picking coordinating outfits so easy, basically like they did it for you (they also pair things into outfits so you don’t have to go figure out what goes with what if you’re just shopping for one child).

 

Don’t forget accessories.

Accessories like a hat, belt, shoes, bow ties, ribbons, or sunglasses, can add a lot to how styled and put-together outfits look for a special occasion or photos. Accessories are also a great way to tie together coordinating outfits, especially if the kids are wearing different colors.

If you’re looking to purchase only a few new things but get coordinating outfits, consider picking out accessories for one sibling that match something another sibling already owns.

Here, it’s Adelaide’s shoes that tie into Lincoln’s pink shirt.

Pick items they can wear again and again.

I add this tip hesitantly, because sometimes that special piece is really just worth it for the summer wedding or the Christmas card photos, but if it’s something you love and you can get some more use out of it, that’s a win in my book. With these outfits I picked out for Lincoln and Adelaide, you might not have a reason to put a toddler in seersucker suspenders every day over the summer (but we do go to church once a week and you can bet he’ll be sporting them often). That said, the pieces from the outfit work well with lots of different things. Adelaide’s white eyelet dress, for example, can be paired with a cardigan for another look altogether or be worn with any pair of shoes. Lincoln’s pink shirt can be worn with a variety of other colors throughout spring and summer.

Where to buy matching sibling outfits for pictures

Stuck on where to buy outfits for your kids for photos? Here are a few of our favorites:

And one tip for getting your kids to cooperate for photos when you have them in these darling outfits.

PROPS (and bribery, but mostly props). Give your kids something to play with. For example, bringing along the flowers on this photoshoot and asking Lincoln to share them with Adelaide worked wonders. He had something new and interesting to look at while I snapped some candid photos. I also brought along some little decor chicks that didn’t make it into as many pictures but you get the idea.

The other prop that is super useful (and you’re probably using one right this second) is a chair. Keeping at least one of the kids seated makes snapping photos so much easier. Even when it was just the toddler in the photos, Lincoln would happily sit in the chair and inspect the flowers of chicks.

Check out this post on how to get your kids to smile for photos! 

Outfit details:

Lincoln’s shirt // Lincoln’s seersucker suspenders // Lincoln’s boat shoes // Lincoln’s Fedora

Adelaide’s Dress // Adelaide’s sandals 

GIVEAWAY! 

So for making it to the end of the post I’m giving one of you a $50 Osh Kosh gift card. Just go ahead and pin this next image and leave a comment with the URL and you’re entered! I’ll pick a winner next week 🙂

wondering what your kids should wear to a family photoshoot or trying to coordinate outfits for a wedding? Try these tips to get babies' and toddlers' special occasion outfits coordinated without too much matching

 

And a few more photos because I just couldn’t narrow it down!

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8 Comments

  1. Aaaaah these pictures are too cute and I’m so planning on doing family pictures soon and this is giving me lots of ideas of what to put my two kiddos in, so thanks! Hope my pictures turn out even half as cute as these… My son doesn’t ever sit still for pictures or look at the camera so here’s hoping.

    Anyway, pinned it! https://www.pinterest.com/pin/44543483795786293/

  2. These photos are too cute!!! The accessorizing adds so much to their style, I can’t even deal with the cute shoes and suspenders! It was fun reading through this and admiring the cuties!

  3. My husband and I want to buy some new clothes for our son. We love what you said about picking pieces that can be worn over and over again. We’d love to shop small for these as well!