Fashion
How to do matching family outfits without looking like a costume
Do not dress everyone identically. Pick one colour family, let one person carry the boldest print or shade, and put everyone else in quieter versions of the same palette.
Coordinate, do not match. Choose a single colour family, give one person the strongest version of it, and keep everyone else in calmer pieces from the same range. Coordinated reads as styled; identical reads as a team kit. Everything below is what I have worked out doing this in Dubai, where the heat decides half of what is actually wearable.
What does coordinating actually mean?
One palette, three jobs. The anchor takes the loudest piece, normally the largest print or the deepest shade. One or two people back it up in the same colour, scaled down or cut plainer. The rest of the family stays in solids pulled from that palette.
Print scale is the next dial. When I am wearing something large and busy, the children go small or plain, because two big prints beside each other read as noise, and most people will only ever see the picture at phone size. Silhouette does the rest: repeat the colours but change the shapes and it looks deliberate, repeat both at once on adults and children and you have arrived at fancy dress. If colour makes you nervous in the first place, my method for that is in how to wear bold prints and colour.
Which colours photograph well in UAE light?
Strong light suits strong colour. Yellow, terracotta, coral and warm pink all come alive in late afternoon sun here, and they look like the place they were shot in. Cream, sand, olive and soft blue are the calmer choice, and they hold up against sand and sea without fighting the background.
Two things I avoid. Pure white on everybody at once, because in harsh light it blows out and you lose the texture in the fabric. And tiny stripes or fine checks, which shimmer strangely on camera. Keep the whole group in the same brightness range, or the palest person will look washed out in every frame.
Which fabrics survive a Dubai day out?
Skip this part and you pay for it, because a beautifully coordinated family is worth nothing if two of them are miserable by the second photo. Breathable: cotton, linen, cotton blends, viscose, light crepe. Not breathable: heavy polyester, thick satin, anything with a full lining. It shows on faces before it shows on clothes.
From May to September, loose wins over fitted every time. Cover up rather than strip off: loose sleeves keep you cooler in direct sun than bare arms do, and they save you re-applying sunscreen to four people every 40 minutes. Iron everything the night before, because linen creases on the drive over and nothing rescues it once you are on sand. The wider fabric rules for this climate are in what to wear in Dubai.
Where do you buy coordinated family outfits in Dubai?
Three routes, in the order I would try them.
- Buy a set. Carob Dubai does matching mummy-and-me pieces in organic cotton, made to order by a tailor in Dubai, which is the nicest version of this if you plan ahead. Matching Family Outfits is a UAE online store built entirely around family sets, ethnic wear included, shipping nationwide. Noon and Mumzworld carry cheaper versions if you only need something for one occasion.
- Build it yourself out of separate shops in one colour story. This is my usual route. It costs an afternoon and looks far more personal, because nothing is identical. For an ethnic palette, the shops in where to buy Indian kurtis in Dubai will cover the supporting pieces.
- Tailor it. Buy one roll of fabric, take it to a tailor in Satwa or near Meena Bazaar, and get a dress, a shirt and a small kurta out of the same cloth. Usually cheaper than a branded set, and everything fits. Agree the price before you hand the fabric over.
Shoes are the easiest coordination of all, and the least costumey, because nobody reads matching shoes as fancy dress. Sam Edelman makes miniature versions of some of its women's styles, which I filmed with my daughter, and that alone is enough of a link between two outfits.
What we actually wore
The one that got the most questions was a full family look in sunshine yellow by Celia B, filmed in August. One colour, the whole family, and no two of us in the same shape: the anchor-and-support idea at its simplest, and it works precisely because nobody is wearing the same garment as anybody else.
The looser version is a holiday. On a family trip to England in July we were not matching at all, just sitting in the same quiet palette, mostly high street with ASOS in the mix, and the photos still read as a set. That is the low-effort route: agree on two or three colours in the morning and let everyone dress themselves inside it. And in April last year my daughter and I wore the same shoes in two sizes, which is the whole trick in one accessory.
Disclosure: Celia B and Sam Edelman are brands I have worked with. My opinion is my own.
What about the actual photos?
Book the first hour after sunrise or the last hour before sunset. In this climate that is practical rather than aesthetic, although the light is better too. Those slots go first, so ask early if you are hiring someone. On cost, booking platforms put family sessions in the region of AED 550 to AED 1,500, and the figure moves with the photographer, the length of the session and the number of edited images. Those are the platforms' own rates rather than a market price, so ask a photographer directly and check what is included.
On permits, the rules depend on the location and on how professional your setup looks, and most of what is written online comes from companies that sell permits. Phone photos of your own family in a park or on a public beach are not the problem. A hired photographer with a tripod, lighting and reflectors in a public place is permit territory, and malls, hotels and private beaches set their own rules on top, so ask your photographer and check the current rules for that location. One thing is not negotiable: photographing other people without their consent is an offence here, so keep strangers out of your frames.
With children in tow, the easy spots are the Marina promenade, the JBR beachfront, Kite Beach, and Al Barsha Pond Park when you want shade and space rather than sea. My notes on the best beaches in Dubai cover which stretches stay calm enough for this.
What I would skip
- Identical outfits in identical shapes. That is the costume look you are trying to avoid.
- Buying everything new. One new piece as the anchor and the rest from what you own looks better and costs less.
- Anything stiff or fully lined in summer. It photographs beautifully for six minutes.
- Arguing with a child about a top. Offer two options you have already approved and let them pick. A child who chose their own outfit smiles in every single frame.
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