Fall Family Photo Outfit Ideas for 2025
Crisp mornings, golden leaves underfoot, and the smell of pumpkin spice in the air—fall has officially arrived in Boise! 🍂 This season is one of the most stunning (and most requested) times of the year for family photos. If you’re planning a session, one of the first things you might be wondering is, “What should we wear?”
Dressing for autumn photos comes with its own charm and a few unique considerations. To help you feel confident and prepared, I’ve gathered some fresh outfit inspiration and styling tips for this season. And remember—every client of mine gets access to personalized outfit styling, so you’ll never be left guessing. I’m always here to help pull your family’s look together!
Mix patterns and colors
By mixing patters and colors that compliment and contrast each other you can create a cohesive look that blends well as a family. In the example below, the family is wearing a combination of greens, blues and browns with some cream. Their outfits are coordinated well in that they look nice together, but aren’t matchy matchy. Their outfits are comfortable for a cool fall morning, but also look nice and are dressier than casual clothes. Blue and green are both cooler colors, which you might not immediately think about for fall, but they are great for complimenting the yellows, oranges and reds that you often find in fall leaves.
Boy's Dark Wash Levi Jeans | Toddler Boy’s Olive Green Vest | Brown Corduroy Toddler Boys Pants | Girl’s collard dress | Women’s Floral Skirt | Women’s Blouse | Men’s Collard Shirt | Men’s Green Dockers | Boy’s Corduroy Pants | Boys Green & Navy Checked Shirt
2. Add a Pop of Color
Mix up colors and patters and avoid having all family members wear one color. I like to alternate light, dark and mid-tone colors to add contrast and interest. Also a pop of color is a fun addition. There is certainly a place for neutrals in family photos to help ground the shot and create accurate skin tones, however, adding a pop of color is a fun way to make your family’s outfits unique. Fall backgrounds also tend to have a lot of neutrals like brown grass, and brown and gold trees, so this is your opportunity to add in color and stand out from the background. For fall I like burgundy, wine and rust options in the red family for a pop of color.
Boys Burgundy Pants | Boys’ Quarter Zip Sweater | Women’s Dress | Boys Color Block Sweater | Girls Burgundy Dress | Men’s Shirt | Men’s Jacket
3. Use Warm, Classy Neutrals To Compliment Your Background
In the example below, the family went with a biege, black and tan combination. Black is arguably the classiest color one could wear, but it can be a risky choice for family photos. In photographs, black can loose detail fast and make you blend in to the background (with darker backgrounds). In the below example, however I think it works very well and here’s why:
The first thing I would highlight about this color choice is that it works because the background is lighter and the bridge is red. Since there is already color in the photos from the red bridge, neutral outfits were a nice choice to not compete with the red bridge. I also think it works because they didn’t have every single family member wear the same color/tone. Rather, they broke it up with a lighter color (biege), and a mid-tone color (tan). Both colors are warmer tones which helps bring light, warmth and an overall fall feel to the photos.
Women’s Faux Leather Skirt | Black Women’s Sweater | Men’s Black Sweater | Men’s Ivory Pants | Men’s Ivory Waffle Sweater | Girl’s Overalls | Wrangler Women’s Jeans | Women’s Crochet Top
4. Choose Colors that compliment each other and the background
In the example below the family went with blue, orange and biege color ouftfits. I believe blue and orange contrast well together because they are complimentary (opposite each other on the color wheel) and they marry warm and cool colors. Combined with a yellow or tan background the three colors make up a triadic combination (colors that are equal distances from each other) on the color wheel which is considered a very visually appealing combination.
Women's Burnt Orange Dress | Women’t Hat | Women’s Jean Jacket | Girl’s Ivory Dress | Men’s Dark Wash Jeans | Men’s Ivory Henley | Baby Knitted Romper | Boy’s Jeans | Boy’s Flannel
5. Dress for Comfort and Warmth
This family used ivory, sage blue and orange for their outfits. While sage is a cooler color, which you might not immediately think about for fall, it is the perfect compliment to yellows, oranges and reds that you often find in fall leaves. I also love that their boys outfits are warm, keeping them happy during the often cooler fall evenings.
Women’s Dress | Men’s Shirt | Toddler Boys’ Tan Sweater | Toddler Boys Jeans | Toddler Boys Carmel Sweater | Toddler Boys’ Kaki Pants
Ultimately when dressing for family photos you want to pick items that look and feel like you! Pick practical and comfortable items that your family can easily move around in and take photos standing or sitting. Avoid items with multiple patters or large logos which can be a distraction in the photos. We want YOU to stand out in the images, not your clothes so don’t let the clothing overpower the images.
Have fun with it and wear something you maybe wouldn’t normally wear. Throw on a sequin dress, a hat, a bow tie, or a pair of cowboy boots. Family photos are a good excuse to pull at that statement piece and dust off the high heels if you want!