Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Getty Images
Dear Allison,
So many family holiday cards are corny and lame. How do I make mine look chic?
Sincerely,
A cool mom
Hi fashion friend,
My family and I have not taken holiday photos yet but we have taken photos with the baby and I’ve also assisted other parents with this, so I’m here to help!
But before we get in to it, I’ll start with a little disclaimer: As a new mom myself, I’ve really been rethinking everything I once thought was so lame, like taking pictures with and of your children, for instance. At one point in my life — and I’m kind of ashamed to admit this — I thought a family holiday card was kind of cheesy. Or when I saw people who had their kids as their phone background, I used to think to myself, Get a life! Now that I’m a mom, my baby is (of course) on my phone background, and I don’t think it’s lame at all. It’s actually cool! We should all be proud of our kids and have great photos of them.
The goal of a holiday card should be to show the reality of your family and the sweetness of your life, no matter how messy or imperfect it is. Keep that in mind and follow my tips, below, to avoid making the photos look too glossy or fake.
Examples of family photos that work well for a holiday card. Clockwise from left: Photo: Maskot/Getty ImagesPhoto: Dmytro Betsenko/Getty ImagesPhoto: JohnnyGreig/Getty Images
Examples of family photos that work well for a holiday card. From top: Photo: Maskot/Getty ImagesPhoto: JohnnyGreig/Getty ImagesPhoto: Dmytro Betsenko…
Examples of family photos that work well for a holiday card. From top: Photo: Maskot/Getty ImagesPhoto: JohnnyGreig/Getty ImagesPhoto: Dmytro Betsenko/Getty Images
There are a few things that can make a holiday card look overly staged. Wearing something new, solely so you can wear it for the holiday-card photo, is one of them. Instead: Wear the thing that makes you feel the most comfortable.
Unless you really love white button-downs. But you don’t have to wear a certain type of white dress or a white button-down and jeans if that’s not something you normally wear — just wear your favorite outfit.
That is if you want your family to coordinate outfits, coordinate them around your look. If you wear something you love that feels true to your personal style, the whole family photo will feel more natural and authentic. I love Dries Van Noten and have a crazy pair of pants from the brand. I would wear them and have my family color coordinate around them. Even though the concept of sending out a holiday card to your friends and family is quite wholesome, that doesn’t mean the styling needs to be cookie cutter or overly sweet. It should feel realistic and natural for your family.
A tutu on top of a Spider-Man costume? Just roll with it. Let them style themselves. I think it’s actually really cute when kids wear what they want. It’s so apparent, too. Remember that the whole point of a holiday card is to show the personalities in your family and show how cute and amazing your kids are. So letting them express themselves with their outfits is really sweet. My best friend’s daughter is one of the funkiest dressers I have ever seen, and she’s wearing sunglasses and a purse on their Christmas card. It’s clear that she dressed herself, and it’s so charming and cute — much better than if my friend had dressed her in something that felt too perfect and polished.
Try a font that’s funky and cool instead of screaming, “Happy holidays.” If your kids are a bit older, I also love the idea of having them help you with the design of the card and turning it into a fun family project.
You can get your photos professionally done or just take them yourself with an iPhone, either works. If you can get all of your family together for one photo, I like that style of card better than one that consists of a collage of individual photos of each family member. As far as the background, think about what you want to say about your family. Are you an outdoorsy family? Maybe you take your holiday-card photos on a hike. Did you go on an amazing vacation this year? Use a photo from that. The more genuine and real, the better.
We had photos taken when my son Jack [who was born prematurely, two months early] got out of the hospital. A lot of moms told me to take them, even though Jack still has tubes in his nose. A lot of moms were like, “Just do it now, it doesn’t have to be perfect,” and I thought that was really good advice. Looking back at those photos now, it shows the reality of our family. They are so fun and sweet. My favorite photos from that day are the ones where my husband and I are laughing or the ones where my son is crying, not the staged ones where we’re all posing. I wasn’t sure about taking photos with the tubes in his nose, but I’m so glad I did and I would be so sad if I hadn’t captured those moments.
—Your fashion friend, Allison
