What to wear for a studio maternity photoshoot

You do not need to buy a maternity wardrobe for your session. Every maternity experience includes access to the studio wardrobe, and most women are photographed entirely in pieces they had never seen before that morning.

What you bring should be the things no wardrobe can supply: clothing that already means something to you, and the pieces you know you feel like yourself in.

What the studio already has

• Maternity gowns
• Flowing fabrics
• Bodysuits
• Accessories
• Statement pieces
• Items that can be styled in several different ways

I help you choose pieces that complement your body, match the direction of the session and work with the lighting and poses planned for it. The wardrobe is not a rail of dresses to pick from at random — it is one of the tools we use to build the gallery.

Gowns

A gown is the most forgiving thing you can be photographed in, because the fabric does the shaping rather than your clothing having to fit. Long trains and full sleeves photograph beautifully in motion and give us something to work with in almost every pose.

Fabric

A single length of fabric, wrapped and shaped on the day, is the most sculptural option in the studio. It can be as covered or as open as you want, and no two clients ever end up with the same shape.

This is the one to ask about if you want something dramatic but are not comfortable with a bodysuit.

Bodysuits

Modern, clean and unmistakably about the belly. A bodysuit shows the shape without showing everything, and it works especially well in black and white and in the jeans-and-bodysuit look.

The classic black look

Black is the most reliable choice in the studio. It suits dramatic lighting, it never dates, and it photographs well against both dark and neutral backgrounds. If you only want one look and cannot decide, choose this one.

What to bring from home

• Clean jeans you already wear and can move in
• A blazer, if a polished look appeals to you
• Heels, and something flat for the rest of the session
• Jewelry that means something — a ring, a piece from your mother
• Something connected to the baby: a scan, a tiny pair of shoes, a blanket
• Nude, seamless underwear that will not mark your skin

Try anything you plan to bring before the day. A piece that fit a month ago may not fit now, and finding that out at the studio costs you time you would rather spend being photographed.

What to leave at home

• Large logos and bright graphics
• Busy patterns that compete with your face
• Anything that pulls at the shoulders or gapes at the waist
• Tight elastic worn in the hour before the session, which leaves marks that have to be retouched out

What should my husband wear?