Boudoir-NY

Lingerie Guide:

Wardrobe

Most people don’t know how important the right wardrobe is for a boudoir shoot. Outfits and posing are the key ingredients of a great session—along with picking the right photographer. If you’re reading this, you can relax: you’ve found the right photographer.

Now, back to wardrobe. Your clothes let you show your style, highlight parts you love, or hide areas you feel self-conscious about. The right outfit can be your best friend—or your worst enemy. That’s why this guide exists: to help you navigate the beautiful world of lingerie.

Not sure what your special someone wants to see? Download this playful list of questions to help you discover their tastes—subtly and without spoiling the surprise.

Question card deck

Woman kneeling on a bed, wearing a black lace long-sleeve bodysuit, with her hands behind her head and eyes closed, in a bedroom with sheer curtains.

So lets start with our FAVORITE!!! The glorious bodysuit. Bodysuits are in our opinion, the queen of Boudoir Session Lingerie for the simple fact that they almost always look amazing on any body type or shape. There are many different styles of bodysuits: “high-cut” styles make anyones legs magically appear longer (let’s be real...everyone wants that!) A slimmer back cut over the booty gives the illusion of a little added perk to the tushie, perfect for those much desired #tushietuesday posts! Some other options are deep plunging plunging necklines to accentuate both the small and large chest! It works for both! Bodysuits come in an array of different materials, the most popular being lace or sheer materials! Bodysuits are very popular and easy to find within the style industry right now! A few places to find them are Express, Forever 21, American Apparel, and Boohoo, just to name a few!

A woman wearing pink polka dot lingerie, including a bra and matching panties, with her hand resting on her hip.

A lot of women are naturally drawn to the typical bra and panty sets because most women already have these as part of their everyday lingerie wardrobe. These sets can be wonderful options! There are many different styles for both the bra and panty.

Close-up of a woman wearing a burgundy and black lace bra.

Lets start with the Bra! The most important thing to remember when shopping for a bra is Bra Size, Bra Size, BRA SIZE!!!
If you need help with this, Victoria’s Secret can measure you for the proper bra size. It’s so very important. Push-up Bras are the most common as most women feel as though they need a little boost to their “girls”. If you’re smaller chested, we suggest that you steer clear of the push-up bras. During posing, it can create a gap between the breast and the bra that isn’t very flattering to smaller chested women. Trust us, we’ve seen this issue more times than we can count. If you have a larger sized chest, again, just make sure you are purchasing the proper size!
Underwire Bras are typically wonderful for all shapes and breast size! Underwire options can do wonders for women who may need a little bit of a lift and offer amazing support for larger chests! Other Bra options are things like cloth/t-shirt materials (...think Calvin Klein sets), Lace and Sheer bra’s that show a little bit more and add a very subtle and sexy touch.
Now, lets talk Panties. Panties come in all sorts of cuts ranging from high cut thongs to boy cut style booty shorts. Victoria’s Secret has every cut and style imaginable and would most likely be your best bet on finding what work perfectly for your tush and body shape. To get that much loved perky #tushietuesday look, a gorgeous lace cheeky panty typically looks amazing on most booty shapes and sizes. We LOVE Lace!!!

Close-up of a woman wearing a pink satin strapless corset with button details and floral embroidery, standing next to a tree trunk.

Corsets and Bustiers make great options for several reasons. There are differences between the two. Corsets have very strong boning built inside of the peices to give very secure structure to the body. They are able to nip and tuck a few inches from the waistline and give an added shape. One of the main differences between a Corset and Bustier are that Corsets do not have cups or underwire built in. It’s usually a flat peice that can very easily make someone look smaller or flat chested. However, typically with a corset, you are focusing more on defining the waist rather than the chest. Bustiers are also different in the length. They typically do not cover the entire waist focusing more on defining and lifting the breasts.

Woman with gray hair and tattoos wearing black and pink lace lingerie

Teddy’s are very similar to a bodysuit. However, they generally are a little more sexy and show a little more than the typical bodysuit. Teddy’s are very flattering to almost every single shape and size. They typically have built in cups for added support whereas a bodysuit does not. To really spice them up, you can easily add a garter belt with stockings or just wear some stockings without the garter belt.
The sheer adds so much to these little delicate pieces. The added peek through the fabric adds that little extra spice for some added sexy to your wardrobe!

A woman wearing black lace lingerie, including a bra, garter belt, and matching panties.

As we mentioned a little bit with the Teddy’s, adding a garter belt with stockings is FIRE! We absoultely love how much these two small additions can add to a look. Garter Belts generally sit right at the waist line with adjustable straps that hang down your legs to attach the stockings to.
We also love the look of just the garter belt without the stockings. With our expert posing we are able to use the garter belt straps as a little bit of an added touch to a super sexy pose!
As far as stockings go, there are so many different options when it comes to stockings. One of our all-time favorites are the fishnets!! So much added SEXY with these.

Close-up of a woman wearing layered gold jewelry, including rings on fingers, delicate necklaces, and body jewelry, with a light-colored shirt partially open.

Accessories can add so much to your session. By adding accessories, you are able to add your personal touch to your session. They can add a touch of class, a pop of color and the list goes on...
Statement Statement pieces are one of the main ways to add some personality and personal style. The most common of these would be a statement necklace. These pieces are bold and so eye catching. An additional all-time favorite piece to accessorize with are Body Chains! Body chains can be added to a piece of lingerie or can also be worn completely by itself!
Other added accessories are shoes, stockings, body jewelry, rings, bracelets, or even a sexy sheer robe. One last thing to keep in mind when you’re thinking about the smaller details of your session, is nail color!! Think natural/non distracting colors for your nails!!

A nude woman with tattoos on her arm posing with her head tilted back and eyes closed, as water droplets spray around her against a black background.

We cannot put into words the experience our clients have when they leave this studio feeling FREE and like they have just conquered the world! And on the other end of that, as the photographer, when our client feels comfortable enough with us to do the implied nude shots at the end, we feel like we have one-thousand-percent delivered our best self. To make clients feel comfortable in their own skin, to strip down to bare-minimum, to us speaks volumes. Implied nudes are the way to feel 100% confident with your body. When you feel like you no longer have to hide behind a piece of clothing, you truly feel free! We encourage everyone to consider doing the implied nude shots at the very end of your session. We’ve never had one single client regret pushing past their own doubt to do these! It truly is, in our experienced opinion, one of the best “wardrobe” decisions you can make!!

A yellow diamond-shaped sign with a black exclamation mark in the center, set in a forested area with green ferns and trees.

There are so many things to keep in mind while choosing what to wear for your Boudoir Session. Along this journey of photographing hundreds of women, we’ve learned quite a few things that can save you some time and hassle.
We will start with one of the main things we see very often and that is clients choosing to bring Baby Doll Lingerie or slip like pieces. They look pretty hanging on the rack, they cover a little bit more skin, they conceal the stomach area making women feel more comfortable during their session...we honestly get their appeal! We do...however, the truth of the baby doll issue is that they offer ZERO help adding shape and they hide a lot of the gorgeous features of the female figure. They hide the curves and make most women look boxy, as well as add the illusion of added inches. We do not suggest choosing these options. We can promise you that you will be so glad we filled you in on this little secret!
The next tip is color! Yes, bright colors can be fun and sassy, but sometimes these colors don’t read well through the lens of the camera. Extremely bright pinks, oranges, blues, etc. can translate differently than they appear to the natural eye. We love color, please do not get us wrong. We just do not suggest choosing extremely bright fluorescent colors. Deep Dark Blues/ Purples always turn out incredible!