Masterclass - Selecting the Perfect Wardrobe Colour Palette for your MANAWA Portrait Experience
An editorial look at the sophisticated, muted shades of soft hues that bring effortless wardrobe balance to neutral skin tones without overpowering your features.
A curated wardrobe guide detailing the exact warm sking tone colors to wear for female portrait sessions, helping your golden undertones glow beautifully on camera.
Learn how to easily identify your specific complexion characteristics at home to determine if your skin leans towards warm, cool or neutral.
Discover how rich jewel striking tones and crisp whites create striking elegant contrast for coll-toned clients, ensuring striking clarity under studio lighting
Choosing what to wear for your maternity experience can sometimes feel like a bigger decision than it needs to be. With so many colours, tones and textures to choose from, it's easy to wonder what will actually complement your complexion and make you feel beautiful and comfortable.
The good news?...... There are no strict rules.
Your skin tone can be a helpful starting point when choosing colours, but ultimately, the best colour is one that makes you feel like your fabulous self.
At MANAWA, my wardrobe has been carefully chosen to complement the changing shape of pregnancy, with beautiful fabrics, soft textures and tones that photograph beautifully. If you're unsure what will suit you, we'll explore the options together when you arrive.
But if you'd like a little guidance before your experience......... here's where to begin..........
Unveiling Your Natural Undertone- The Foundation of Styling
Before selecting your wardrobe fabrics, you must first identify the unique undertone of your complexion. Our studio expertise utilise simple, time-tested visual markers - Such as how your skin responds to precious metals and natural sunlight - to instantly reveal wether your skin leans warm, cool or beautifully neutral.
Look at your veins
- In natural light, look at the veins on the inside of your wrist.
- If they appear more blue or purple, you may lean towards cool.
- If they appear green, you may lean towards warm.
- If you see a mixture of both, you may have neutral undertones.
Try the jewellery test
- Think about which jewellery you naturally reach for.
- Does silver seem to brighten your complexion? You may lean cool.
- Does gold make your skin appear warmer and more radiant? You may lean warm.
- If both look equally beautiful, you may have neutral undertones.
Look in natural light
This is perhaps the simplest test of all.
- Stand near a window without makeup and look at your skin in natural daylight.
- Does your complexion appear more rosy and pink, or more golden and warm?
And remember, this isn't an exact science. Your skin can change with the seasons, and the colours around you can influence how your complexion appears.
Curating Wardrobe Tones for Golden Complexions
...Curating Wardrobe Tones for Golden Complexion
When selecting wardrobe pieces for a luxury portrait session, the objective is to enhance your natural, sun-kissed undertones rather than compete with them. Capturing the perfect balance on camera requires fabrics that catch studio lighting beautifully, bringing organic depth and premium texture to the final photographer.
..Styling the warm undertone - A guide for Women
When choosing warm skin tone colors to wear, female portrait clients should look towards rich, organic hues that mirror the natural warmth of their skin. Earthy tones like deep terracotta silk, camel wool, warm olive linen and honey gold, flatter golden complexions effortlessly. These choices enrich the overall tone of the image and create an immediate sense of high-end editorial elegance.
..Your signature colour palette for Skin Tone Harmony
Curating a bespoke colour palette for skin tone clarity ensures your wardrobe reflects light beautifully in front of the lens. Fpr clients with warm undertones, avoiding icy blues, stark whites and harsh jewel tones is crucial, as these make the skin appear washed out under professional lights. Instead, lean into creamy off-whites, rich chocolate browns and brick reds to acheive a luminous flawless finish in your portraits.
Curating Wardrobe Tones for Cool and Alabaster Complexions
..Capturing Depth in Cool and Alabaster Complexions
Cool complexions possess beautiful blue, pink, or rosy undertones that respond magnificently to high-contrast styling. In a studio setting, the goal is to choose wardrobe colours that make your skin tone look crisp, vibrant and strikingly luminous against a backdrop.
..Editorial Tones for Striking Contrast
Clients with cool undertones look exceptionally striking in crisp winter whites, deep sapphire blues, rich emerald greens and royal purples. When preparing your wardrobe, focus on structured garments in these vivid shades to create a timeless, artistic contrast.
..Tones to Avoid for Professional Portraits
To preserve your natural skin clarity on camera, it is best to avoid overly warm shades like orange, muddy yellows and soft peachy. These colours can clash with your natural undertones, causing the camera sensor to pick up unwanted skin redness or muddy shadows. Stick to clean, cool spectrum colours to keep your portraits looking bright and refined.
Curating Wardrobe Tones for Neutral Complexions
..Balancing Tones for sophisticated Neutral Complexions
A neutral skin tone is incredibly versatile, sitting perfectly between warm and cool spectrums. Because your undertones do not lean heavily in either direction, your wardrobe options are vast, but the most elegant portraits are acheived by maintaining a soft, effortless balance.
..Sophisticated Muted Tones and Soft Hues
Neutral complexions glow brightest in muted, mid-tone shades that do not fight for attention. Consider archiving a look of understated luxury with soft sage greens, dusty roses, classic charcoal grays and soft lavender. These calm sophisticated tones allow your natural features to take center stage in the Image without being overpowered by the clothing.
..Navigating Contrast and Saturation
While you can easily wear most colours, neon shades or overly saturated primaries can wash out a neutral complexion on camera. By selecting slightly desaturated or "dusty" versions of your favourite colours, you ensure a balanced, high-end look that translates beautifully into premium wall art and heirloom albums.
It's not just about colour
When choosing what to wear for your maternity experience, colour is only one part of the story. Texture can completely change how a colour feels.
A soft silk catches the light differently from lace. A flowing fabric moves differently from something structured. A simple neutral can feel incredibly luxurious when paired with the right texture.
Patterns can work beautifully too, although for maternity artwork I often find that simpler pieces allow the focus to remain where it belongs — on you and this incredible stage of your life.
And if you're not quite ready for a bold colour, you don't have to wear it head-to-toe. You can introduce colour through a delicate accessory, a soft layer or a subtle detail.
What about your partner and children?
If you're bringing your family into your maternity experience, you don't need everyone dressed in matching outfits. In fact, I prefer when everyone still feels like themselves.
Instead, think about choosing colours that sit beautifully together. Soft neutrals, earthy tones, muted colours and gentle complementary shades can create a sense of harmony without making everyone look identical.
Below is a colour wheel to help, your looking for colours next to each other,
And perhaps the most important rule of all...
There are no rules. Your skin tone can guide you, but it shouldn't dictate what you're allowed to wear.
If you love a particular colour, wear it. If you feel beautiful in something that technically doesn't fit within your "colour palette", that matters far more than a colour chart ever could.
Take your time. Try things on. Notice what makes you feel good. And trust yourself. Because when you feel comfortable and confident, that is what shines through.
And when you come to MANAWA, you don't need to arrive knowing exactly what will work.
Bring a few pieces you love, explore the MANAWA wardrobe, and we'll find what feels right for you, your body and this chapter of your story.
The details are there to complement you —
never to take away from you.
About the Author
Emma is the photographer and founder behind MANAWA, based in Auckland, New Zealand. With over 20 years' experience photographing maternity, newborn, and family sessions, she is an award-winning photographer through the International Newborn Photography Competition and Awards (INPCA) and a regular contributing photographer for Bump, Baby & Beyond magazine. Emma's work is bold, soulful, and editorial — creating images designed to help every child feel they truly belong.
