How to Perfect the Outfit Flat lay

Today’s post is all about tips on how to perfect the outfit flay lay. I love a good outfit flat lay post. They always look so well done and some people are really good at creating a seamless look. I love following the hashtag #outfitflatlay on IG. The ones that catch my attention are the ones that have bright colors and crisp pictures. How does one go about putting together a IG worthy outfit flat lay? With a little, elbow grease and a bit of imagination you to can perfect the outfit flat lay.

Choose your background

When picking a background for your outfit flat lay, it is important to pick the right background.

One way to help choose this is to base if off of your brand. I tend to go for white backgrounds. White backgrounds tend to allow the clothing in the pictures to stand out more. Think about when you look at websites at their products, many times these are shot using white backgrounds to help draw attention to the products. That’s not to say you shouldn’t or couldn’t use a colorful patterned background. There are many cute outfit flat lays that have been shot on cute leopard print rugs and the like. Whatever is cohesive with your brand, stick to that.  

Pick a feature piece

What items do you want to stand out the most? Is it a shirt or blouse? A pair of Jeans or Shoes? Once you decide what that item is center the rest of the items around it.

In this picture, the feature piece is the bra and shoes. I positioned them on top of all the other clothes and in the center. 

Be mindful of lighting

Choose a spot if indoors near natural light such as a window or a door with windows. Notice the where the shadows fall on the outfit. The key here is to have the pieces bright. You want the shadows to bring depth to the photo not take away from it. When shooting my outfit flat lays I normally go to the brightest area of my house, which happens to be my bedroom. If there are too many shadows on my clothes. I reposition them to where there are less. Use can also use something white positioned where the light will bounce off of it and on to your clothes. In the picture above, you cannot see it but there are 2 huge white euro pillows next to the right side of the picture. It added just the right amount of light to get rid of some of the shadows on the clothes.

Notice some of the shadows on the shirt? 

Add life to your flat lay

This can be done by arranging the clothes as if someone were using them or how the clothes would be used if they were being worn. For example, rolling up the sleeves on a knit sweater similar to how a person would style that sweater in real life.

• Leave one tennis shoe untied.
• Place one sleeve through the shoulder strap of a purse.
• Knot up a tee shirt.
• Layer the blazer over the blouse or tee shirt.
• Roll up the bottom hem of the jeans.
• Cross the arms of a long sleeve shirt or sweater.
• Fold one arm sleeve up as if touching a necklace.

Here, I left one shoe untied. Almost as if to say, I am not quite ready yet but I am in the process of it.

Do you have any other tips that you use when you set up for your outfit flat lays?                                                       XO,                                                    Jenni SHOP THE POST

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