What to Wear for Christmas Photos | Holiday Family Photo Outfit & Styling Guide
Cozy. Classic. Timeless.
Wondering what to wear for Christmas photos? You’re in the right place. This holiday portrait styling guide is filled with family Christmas photo outfit ideas, color palettes, wardrobe inspiration, and styling tips to help you choose clothing that photographs beautifully with our Christmas sets.
Our holiday sessions are designed to feel like the moments you’ll remember forever. Baking Christmas cookies together, laughing by the fire, snuggling up on a cozy winter evening, dressing up for an unforgettable holiday party, or simply soaking in the magic of the season. Your wardrobe should feel like it belongs in that story.
The best family outfits for Christmas pictures are the ones that complement each other without feeling overly matched. If your family lives in jeans and sweaters, you don’t need suits and ballgowns to create beautiful portraits. If you love getting dressed up, this is your excuse to go all out. With several Christmas photography sets ranging from cozy and casual to rich and elegant, there’s a look for every family.
As you plan what to wear for your holiday photo session, think soft sweaters, rich textures, flowing dresses, corduroy, velvet, cozy knits, warm neutrals, deep greens, rich reds, and touches of gold. Choose pieces that complement the set rather than compete with it, and most importantly, still feel like you.
Our Favorite holiday photo Color Palettes
These colors photograph beautifully with our holiday sets:
Cranberry • Berry Red • Rust
Forest Green • Hunter Green • Olive • Sage
Camel • Chocolate Brown • Tan • Oatmeal
Gold (as an accent)
Mixing several of these colors throughout your family creates depth while still looking beautifully coordinated.
Dress Like You’re Spending Christmas Together
Instead of matching outfits, think of each family member as playing a different part in the same story.
For example:
Mom
Cozy knit sweater with jeans (not an oversized sweater. Must be fitted to flatter your body)
Sweater dress with boots
Flowing dress in cranberry, cream, or forest green with pumps or flats
three quarter length tops look the most elegant and flattering on our arms
Dad
Henley or quarter-zip sweater
Button-down layered under a knit sweater
Chinos or dark denim
Brown leather boots or dress shoes
Rolled to three quarter sleeves if wearing a dress shirt without a jacket
Little Girls
Knit dresses
Velvet dresses
Soft tulle skirts paired with fitted sweaters
Hair bows or headbands. No pony tails. Pig tails are fine. Hair down is best.
Little Boys
Henleys
Chunky knit sweaters
Corduroy pants
Suspenders are always adorable
Babies
Knit sweater rompers
Cozy one-piece outfits
Soft neutral booties or bare feet
Simple knit bonnets or beanies
The Secret is Texture
The most beautiful holiday portraits aren’t created with loud patterns—they’re created with texture.
Our favorites include:
Chunky knits
Velvet
Corduroy
Wool
Cable knit
Linen
Soft cotton
chiffon or silk
Faux fur accents
Texture creates depth without distracting from your family’s faces.
What to Avoid
To keep your portraits timeless, we recommend avoiding:
Bright neon colors
Small stripes (or just stripes in general)
Large logos or anything with words
Busy prints
Character clothing
Athletic shoes
Pure white (cream, tan, beige, etc are much better on camera)
Too much black
Don’t put baby girls less than 6 months in poofy dresses. They do not look good on camera.
oversized men and boys dress shirts that tuck in. Keep things fitted.
flowy blouses for women. Trust me, you want your body to have some shape. a dress or shirt without shape will make you look 10x larger than you are.
Dress for the Christmas Sets You Choose
One of the most important things to consider when deciding what to wear for Christmas photos is the backdrop itself. Your clothing should feel like it belongs in the scene, so we always recommend choosing your favorite Christmas set first and planning your family’s outfits around its colors, mood, and level of formality. View this year’s Christmas backdrop options here.
Each holiday season, our 3,000-square-foot Lexington, Kentucky photography studio is delightfully transformed for Christmas, with wall-to-wall holiday sets and typically 10–15 unique Christmas backdrops to choose from. Some are cozy and casual, perfect for sweaters, knits, and relaxed family outfits. Others are rich, dramatic, and elegant, calling for velvet dresses, tailored pieces, deeper colors, and a little holiday glamour.
As you look through some of the Christmas photo outfit ideas and color palettes below, pay attention to the styling recommendations for the specific backdrop you’ve chosen. Matching the feeling of your clothing to the feeling of the set is what makes the finished portrait look intentional, cohesive, and beautifully put together. Whatever you choose will likely go with more than one backdrop, and you are able to use up to three during your photo session.
The Client Closet Experience
Before you buy, or search your closet for a single thing, please view our complimentary Client Closet. We’ve curated an incredible collection of beautiful dresses, gowns, skirts, children’s pieces, and specialty wardrobe options in a wide range of sizes, colors, and styles, all chosen specifically because they photograph beautifully. You’re welcome to come into the studio before your session, try things on, and find something that makes you feel amazing.
And you don’t have to style the rest of the family alone. Once we find the perfect piece for you or your child, we’ll help build everyone else’s wardrobe around it using pieces you already own or additional options from the closet. It’s one less thing to shop for, one less thing to stress about, and one of our favorite ways to make your session feel like a fully styled portrait experience from the very beginning.
Need Help?
Every holiday session includes wardrobe guidance.
If you’re unsure what works together, simply send photos of the outfits you’re considering to 859-221-2037 or KaitlynSilvestriPhotography@gmail.com We’ll help you coordinate everyone’s clothing so your final portraits feel cohesive, timeless, and worthy of becoming part of your family’s holiday traditions. Heck, I’ll even come to your home and help you pick out outfits.
This is all an included part of the Kaitlyn Silvestri Photography Experience.