Are you struggling to find a stylist for your upcoming Fashion shoot you've been working hard to prepare for? You have come to the right place!
Even if you don't have a need to style your shoot yourself, give it a go from time to time. It will improve your work from behind the camera too, as photographing people is usually involving fashion in one way or another. In addition to keeping up with the latest trends, you might even start to confidently help your clients out when they ask for your opinion about what they're nervously wearing.
Since high-fashion photography is the most obvious example, where the most importance is placed on the clothing, here are some tips for finding extremely cheap fashion shoot attire on your own.
Find a consignment store
Take a day off and walk around your city, popping into local boutique shops. You will be surprised by all of the hidden gems in these stores! Consignment and thrift stores are usually more selective with what they put on their racks. You can find very high fashion looks and for close to the same price as goodwill. You also need to be careful not to get off task in these places and remember the real reason why you came in there. Having a mood board prepared prior to this adventure can help you immensely so you know what to look for and what style/look you are trying to portray.
Search for the craziest clothes you can find
The best part about high fashion is the limitless ability to express whatever you want, to be outrageous, daring, shocking, and even possibly ugly.
There are no rules in fashion but to make styling your look a bit easier, I suggest finding a top first. The blouse is the piece of clothing closest to the face and generally the half of the photograph our eyes are drawn to. Another reason to start with the top, you can crop the images if you don't get the rest of the outfit quite right.
When you step into a thrift shop, look at the first garments that jump out at you and capture your attention. If its eye-catching on a dusty old clothes rack, you know it will grab everyone's attention with a model and some beautiful light on it.
Find Some Bottoms to Match
The hardest part is putting a top and a bottom together. Luckily being a creative mind you should already have an eye for things that are eye-catching. Just like the fluidity in a photo, It can be the color, the pattern, the texture, or all three that makes two pieces of clothing mesh well together. I recommend starting with all black, white, or a solid color for bottoms because the overwhelming world of patterns and colors can quickly clutter images with distraction if not matched thoughtfully with the top.
Don't Forget the Accessories
The accessories are technically a smaller piece of the final photograph but it's amazing how much they complete the whole look. Don't worry, you don't have to get crazy with jewelry and other small trinkets to nail a fashion shoot, some neutral but bold items to add to the outfit will do wonders.
Accessories can get pricey for a photographers budget if the shoot is for fun. Thankfully most models have a good selection of shoes and jewelry to bring to a shoot and it can be fun to mix and match with what they bring. If you know a models shoe size and are worried they might not have something to match, you can pick up some heels at a thrift shop for as little as a couple of dollars.
Bring Your Vision to Life
You might find it easier to pose a model and effortlessly get what you imagined after styling them yourself. It makes sense since when we style we are thinking about the final images more thoroughly than usual. Try to imagine poses in your head while you are shopping around for outfits. Even if you leave empty-handed, you will come home from a thrift store with ideas, inspiration, and creative energy!! The things we really need to create but can't buy anywhere.
We hope you have a successful styling adventure without a stylist! Let us know how the photoshoot turned out we would love to share the results!
pranjal jain on
quite helpful tips! Im on it