What To Wear For Your Newborn Photos

You’ve booked your newborn photo shoot, and the day is fast approaching. One of the first questions that many new parents have is ‘what should we all wear’?

I know that when you’ve just had a baby this question can be particularly emotive for mums. The amazing way that our bodies change to grow and nurture our babies both during and after pregnancy can mean that our favourite clothes don’t fit anymore, or that we’re not too sure what will look best.

If you feel this way, you certainly aren’t alone. But I hope that you’ll be pleased to hear that dressing for a newborn shoot can be simple and straightforward – and still make an impact in your photographs.

In this guide I’ll explain how to dress your baby before the shoot and what to wear for newborn family pictures.

Dressing your newborn baby for their photo shoot

During the shoot I’ll spend the majority of my time photographing your new baby, and will use wraps and blankets from my studio wardrobe to cover or wrap them. You don’t need to bring any clothes for your baby to wear during the photo shoot.

However, I will ask you to dress them in a front fastening sleep suit, with no vest underneath so that it is easy for me to undress them when you arrive without disturbing their sleep.

What to wear for newborn family pictures

I allow time during every newborn session to take family photographs and sibling photographs if you have older children. Depending on the size of your family you may have a few outfits to choose.

As you choose your family’s outfits I recommend bearing these three things in mind:

Choose a simple colour scheme
Coordinating rather than matching
Avoid patterns and clothes with pictures, logos or words on them

Choose a simple colour scheme.

Having a coordinated colour palette to base everyone’s outfits on can really help to bring your photographs together, and give them more impact.

Before your session I’ll talk to you about the colour of blankets you would like me to use whilst I photograph your new baby. This will usually be either a lighter colour like white or cream, or a darker colour like grey or taupe.

The colour you choose for your baby’s blankets will have an influence on the colours that will work best for your family photographs.

If you would prefer that your baby is photographed on a light coloured blanket I recommend choosing light colours such as white, cream, soft greys for the family photographs. Denim can also work well for trousers when combined with a light coloured top.

The idea behind this is that we want the focus of the photographs to be on the people in them, not the clothes. Having everyone dressed in soft colours will help to do this, and bring a cohesive feel to the photographs. If you have some family members dressed in dark colours and your baby wrapped up in a light colour, the light colour blanket will really stand out and there will be less of a cohesive feel.

Similarly, if you’ve chosen a darker colour for the wraps and blankets, it usually works best if the family are in darker colours that complement the blanket colour too.

Once you’ve decided on a light or dark colour scheme, I recommend choosing a palette of between 1 and 3 colours that everyone will wear. It’s absolutely fine for everyone to wear the same colour or shades of the same colour – this will help that cohesive feel.

One thing I recommend that you avoid is very bright colours – these will take the focus away from you and your baby.

Coordinating rather than matching

When you’re choosing each member of the family’s outfits bear in mind the goal of coordinating, but rather than matching.

It’s not necessary for everyone to wear the same thing (unless you want to), just for everyone’s outfits to coordinate.

Avoid busy patterns, pictures and logos

When you’re choosing each family member’s clothes I recommend that you avoid busy patterns and clothes with writing, pictures or logos.

All of these things can be distracting and take the focus away from your family and your new baby.

Summary – What To Wear For Newborn Photos

I hope you’ve found this guide helpful in helping you to decide what to wear for your newborn photo shoot. In summary:

Please dress your baby in a front fastening sleepsuit, without a vest underneath, before the session
For the rest of the family, choose a colour palette of 1-3 colours and base everyone’s outfits on these colours.
Avoid bright colours, patterns and clothes with words on.

You may also find these articles helpful as you prepare for your session:

Clare Murthy

I’m a newborn, baby and family photographer working with families from South West London and Surrey. I specialise in timeless, natural photography with no props or unnatural posing. I photograph babies at my studio, and families in beautiful outdoor locations. I'm based on the Surrey / London border, close to Hampton Court.

What To Wear For Your Newborn Photos

Dressing your newborn baby for their photo shoot