Coming in to a boudoir studio for your boudoir session can be incredibly terrifying for a myriad of reasons. In fact, let’s be honest, even imagining yourself unwrapping from your summer maxi-dress only to immediately get dressed into something a ‘bit more comfortable” is enough to make yourself consider joining a convent. 

Side note– why is strapping on a garter belt, thigh highs, some sort of itchy lace, and narrow feather-heels considered slipping into something “a bit more comfortable”? 

Just a thought. 

Let’s relay this back in and talk about what the real issue is that surrounds our nightmares of lace and cellulite and 70s-style bear rugs. The issue is that we are seeing boudoir on Pinterest and hearing about it from our friends and coming so assumptions that eventually erupt into fears. We work ourselves up into a violent tizzy, just *knowing* that we’re going to have to get naked and be sketched by an amateur figure drawing class that is used to drawing Gisele and so they will be sorely disappointed with YOU and your c-section scar/cellulite/weird mole on your butt/uneven earlobes. 

While I will not deny that coming in to my boudoir studio and being photographed without pants on isn’t worth of your nerves, I will state that the experience deserves more than just your nervous attention. The experience deserves some excitement as well as the knowledge that it will be what you and I make it. 

With that being said, here is the start to a new series of posts that highlight a few common misconceptions about your boudoir session:

Misconception #1: Getting naked is a MUST.

1. You do NOT have to get naked. You don't even have to wear lingerie.
   1. Seeing as the common definition of ‘boudoir’ is: A woman’s bedroom or private room, nakedness is not the ONLY idea that we should associate with boudoir photographs. By this definition we should assume that boudoir can also include: mismatched underwear, a 15yr old college t-shirt, one incredible LBD, the occasional lace bra, Spanx, and eating pizza in bed. 
   2. An older, French, definition of boudoir names the word to mean ‘sulking room’, but we’ll ignore that for now :) I have yet to photograph any woman sulking or weeping…but there is always room for another approach. 
   3. When you and I book your boudoir session we will tailor the wardrobe portion of your experience to your tastes and to what inspires you. If you’re inspired by vintage, shaper-wear type lingerie from the 40s then we can absolutely have a blast with your look. What if you are in the mood for lingerie so strappy that it is almost a safety hazard to attempt to put on? Sure. Let’s do it! I’ll help you buckle and arrange. Are you more of a ‘soft t-shirt’ and boxers kind of woman? So am I!! Plus, I usually strip off my clothing immediately after I get home and put on sweatpants that make my ass sag to the ground. 
   4. My point is that you do NOT have to get physically naked. We may talk about subjects and explore a beauty in you that leaves you feeling emotionally naked, but we don’t even have to do that if you aren’t comfortable. Cross the ‘naked’ fear out of your mind.