In the spring, I wrote a little mini-series on styling, but wanted to touch base on the topic again, showing an example of what not to do! A few weeks ago, I realized that I had purchased each of us cute chambray shirts of some form (some with the intent of being worn at our own fall family session) and I was thinking that if we wore them all together, we would look like we belonged on some bad installment of awkwardfamilyphotos.com (this is one of my favorite pages!) from when matching was the thing to do!  So I decided to put it all together and show you what the difference can be when you take elements of that matching to coordinate.

The interesting thing is that a lot of people REALLY struggle with how to put coordinating outfits together- photographers often see families come or couples come with everyone in the same shade of a shirt, or like this example, nearly the same shade, feeling like that must be coordination. And I get it- that was the thing to do for SO long!  Here is the sort of look I am talking about.

They are all really cute clothes, and each person has different colored pants so it isn’t even ALL matchy matchy.  But they are the same texture in general, the same fabric, and the same sorts of colors.

With a few changes (but you will notice still two of the same shirts!), the whole look can be instantly modernized in a way that will work so much better for coordinating!

The dad’s and little boy’s shirts (for my example! :)) stayed- but dad got darker pants that pull everything together a bit, and the little boy adds a vest layer with a nice pop of fall color and texture!  I would love to put dad in layers but Michael says they are just way too warm…so I will leave him with one layer only! 🙂  Then mom gets a colorful shirt with a loud pattern, but since it is really the only one it really works. I pulled the same berry color with the shirt in flats for mom, and the navy in leggings for the little girl outfit .  Her outfit has pattern also, but not a lot of color so it doesn’t compete! I think sometimes people see really well styled families and think either 1). That is WAY too much color/variety for my taste or 2). it is WAY too expensive to look like this.  But all of these clothes were bought at very typical stores (Target, Old Navy, and JC Pennys) for very normal prices, and it is a pretty subtle way to mix patterns and color without it being too crazy for even a more traditional family! They also are all pieces that can be worn every day in real life!

Just wanted to give a little example of how easy it can be to use a few pieces you love that do go together, but coordinate them to create a nice modern look!  Here is the before and after right by each other. Hope this helps!! 🙂 If you are a JGP family or couple, please feel free to send me pictures and ask for advice while we are planning- I love this part of the planning!! 🙂