Fashion
How Do You Style Matching Family Outfits in Dubai Without Looking Costumey?
Do not dress everyone identically. Pick one colour family, let one person carry the boldest print, and keep the rest in quieter versions of the same palette.
Short answer: stop trying to match and start trying to coordinate. Pick one colour family, let one person wear the boldest print, and put everyone else in calmer versions of the same palette. That is the difference between a family that looks styled and a family that looks like a uniformed team.
I shared a matching family look on my Instagram recently, all of us in sunshine yellow, wearing Celia B, and the questions came in fast. How do you pick the colour. What about the kids. Does it work in this heat. So here is everything I have learned doing this in Dubai, where the weather has an opinion about your outfit whether you like it or not.
What does coordinating actually mean?
Think of it as one palette, three jobs. One person is the anchor and wears the loudest thing, usually the biggest print or the brightest shade. One or two people wear a supporting version, so the same colour in a smaller print or a plainer cut. Everyone else wears a solid that sits inside that palette.
Vary the scale of the print too. If I am in a large bold print, the kids go into something small and simple, or plain. Two large competing prints next to each other read as noise in photos, especially on a phone screen where most people will actually see the picture.
Silhouette matters too. Same colours with different shapes still reads as intentional. Same colours plus same shapes on adults and children tips straight into fancy dress.
Which colours actually photograph well in the UAE?
Warm brights hold up beautifully here because the light is so strong. Yellow, terracotta, coral and warm pinks glow in late afternoon sun. Cream, sand, olive and soft blue are the safe, quiet route and they sit well against desert or beach backdrops.
What I avoid is pure white on everyone at once. In harsh UAE light white blows out and you lose all the texture in the fabric. I also avoid tiny stripes and fine checks, which shimmer strangely on camera. If you are nervous about going bright, my guide on how to wear bold prints and colour with confidence walks through easing into it.
What fabrics survive a Dubai family day out?
This is the part people skip and then regret, because coordinated outfits are useless if half the family is miserable by the second photo. Cotton, linen, cotton blends, viscose and lightweight crepe all breathe. Heavy polyester, thick satin and anything lined does not, and it shows on skin and on faces.
Loose beats fitted in summer, always. Sleeves are your friend outdoors because they protect from sun, and a long relaxed sleeve is cooler than bare skin under direct heat. If you want the full breakdown, I covered this properly in what to wear in Dubai in summer.
Press everything the night before, because linen creases in the car and there is no fixing it on a beach.
Where can you buy coordinated family outfits in Dubai?
You have three routes. The easiest is buying from a brand that already sells sets. Carob Dubai does made to order coordinated pieces for women and children, and there are UAE based online stores dedicated entirely to matching family sets, including ethnic wear, with delivery across the Emirates.
The second route, which I usually take, is building the look yourself from separate shops in one colour story. It takes an afternoon but looks far more personal. For ethnic coordination, my guide to where to buy Indian kurtis in Dubai is a good starting point for the supporting pieces.
The third is tailoring. Take one fabric to a tailor in Satwa or Meena Bazaar and have a dress, a shirt and a small kurta cut from the same roll. It is often cheaper than buying a branded set and everything fits properly.
What about the actual photos?
Shoot in the hour before sunset or the first hour after sunrise. In Dubai that is not a style preference, it is survival, and the light is genuinely better. Photographers here charge a premium for golden hour slots because everyone wants them, so book early if you are hiring someone. Family sessions in Dubai commonly run somewhere from around AED 550 to AED 1,500 depending on the photographer and what is included.
On permits, casual family photos on your phone at a park or a public beach are fine. Once you bring a hired photographer and proper kit into a public location, many venues will ask to see a photography permit, so check with the photographer before you turn up. Also be mindful about other people appearing in your frames, because privacy rules here are taken seriously.
Locations that work with children: the Marina promenade, JBR and Kite Beach, Al Barsha Pond Park, and the desert if everyone can handle the drive. My guide to the best beaches in Dubai has more on which stretches stay calm enough for this.
Last thing, and I mean it. Let the kids choose between two options you have already approved. A child who picked their own outfit smiles in every single frame.
More from Aastha's fashion world: explore here.
