A photographer's guide to sexy selfies
It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and you know what that means… it’s time to take some sexy selfies! Whether you have a romantic partner or not, taking sexy selfies can be a fun, subversive, body-positive, vulnerable, authentic, self-loving act, especially when you’re sending it off to someone!
[Ready to feel good in your body and grow self love? I’ll teach you how]
Every time I’ve ever hit send on a text containing a sexy selfie, I’ve felt vulnerable and nervous - will they notice that fat lump that I see so clearly? Will they care? Am I sexy enough for them? Is this too graphic? So many fears! But let’s take the sexy selfie back into being something we do for OURSELVES, to love our bodies and to remind ourselves of just how darn sexy we are. In fact, I challenge you to find a friend who will exchange sexy selfies with you so that you can feel the vulnerability of taking and sending it, and then give each other all of the praise and love for each other’s bodies.
In the meantime, I’ve teamed up with Underclub Co., an undies subscription box, to style their super cute undies and teach you a professional photographer’s perspective on taking the best sexy selfies. It is my job to make women look and feel beautiful after all.
Let’s get into some #buttstuff!
Styling tips
You can style a sexy selfie in so many ways, but the most important question is: what makes you feel sexy? Lingerie? Booty shorts? An oversized sweater? Whatever you answered to that question, do that! You don’t have to wear what everyone else says is sexy. This is about your body and your vibes, so wear whatever makes you feel the like you’re dripping with finesse.
Some of my favorite outfit choices for a sexy selfie are:
a lacy panty and bralette set
boy short bottoms with nothing on top (just cover up your tatas with your arm to keep it classy - we’ll go over that below!)
a high-waisted thong with an oversized sweater that you can pull up for a tantalizing peek-a-boo effect
a feminine dress that you can pull up to show off a cute panty underneath (isn’t that every man’s fantasy?)
My personal outlook on undies is to wear them super high up on the hip - as high as they’ll go! This elongates your legs and accentuates the roundness of your butt (get that thicc booty look even if you don’t got the booty). You’ll see in the pics below that I wear all underwear like this, even if the style of underwear isn’t made for it. Another tip: size up! Underwear don’t have to be super flush against your body, and it’s more comfortable AND sexier to have underwear that doesn’t dig into your flesh and cause unnecessary rolls. Undies should accentuate our good parts, not create painful rolls and dips. Oh, and tip number three: try a thong! If you don’t already wear thongs, try them. I swear, they are life changing. It may take a second to get used to having something up your butt, and girl, don’t get a g-string (there are soft, thick, comfortable thongs out there), but thongs will remove panty lines, accentuate your butt, elongate your body, and will make you feel oh so sexy. Although a good pair of booty shorts never hurt anyone either.
Got your outfit down? Good. Let’s move on to posing!
[Ready to feel good in your body and grow self love? I’ll teach you how]
Sexy poses: break them down and break them out
There are a million ways to pose, but let’s go over some poses to get you started. We’ll start easy, and build up to a couple that are more advanced (get ready for lots of sucking in and arching!).
The hand on hip
This is obviously a very basic pose - you’re just standing in front of a mirror. BUT (butt?), some tips to accentuate your best ASSets (yes, get ready for all of the dad jokes):
put all of your weight on one leg
stick your butt really far out on the side of the leg that you’re standing on
extend your other leg a bit forward, bend it at the knee, point your toe (ALWAYS point your toe)
suck in and/or tense up your stomach to show those abs bb
the side of your body that you’re leaning on will feel scrunched up, whereas the other side will feel stretched out (stretch it out to elongate it!)
put your hand on your waist but flip it so your thumb is forward - this will make your arm look more toned
also put the hand high up at your true waist (not at your hip), this will accentuate the smallest part of your waist
this hand also serves to cover up the rolls that we ALL have when we scrunch up our side - just place your hand over the skin rolls and voila!
your body will be at a slight angle away from the mirror
tilt your head sideways and back to avoid chinzzz
stick out your tongue for a little extra fun!
The hip out blogger stance
You’ve probably seen every single blogger in the history of blogging stand like this. Why? Because it makes you look tall with crazy long legs. Now we can all have Taylor Swift’s legs. Here’s how to do it!
again put all of your weight onto one leg, this will be the leg behind you
push the standing leg side butt out - you’ll lean in that direction
now put your other leg stretched out long and straight in front of you - make sure to point the toe, not much weight will be on this leg
the pointed front leg should be a bit to the side so there is a small space between your legs in the mirror - this will make you look taller and longer
point the front toe a bit in, not out
advanced version: this is tough to balance, but pick up the heel of the standing leg so you’re standing on the tippy toe and both toes are pointed. This is hard but worthwhile as it’ll make both legs look extra long
always always always flex your tummy
to cover your boobs, put the inside of the forearm that’s on the same side as the front leg to cover the closer nipple, then push up and across until your hand is covering your other nipple. This will work as a push-up bra and will make yo boobies pop. Also don’t be afraid of doing this even if you have big boobies. Don’t hide them! Set them free! Do your best to cover most of the nip (gotta keep some mystery going), but don’t even worry if some nip shows. It’ll just add to the sexy. If your boobies spill over your arm, even better. Everyone loves boobs!
optional tongue out again because that’s my jam (it might take some practice to get a cute tongue-out look, but just try a few times and see what works for your face)
[Ready to feel good in your body and grow self love? I’ll teach you how]
The phone up high
This is another common one! It highlights all of the naturally good things - like boobs, butts - and is very flattering on the face. Ready?
hold the phone above you
put all of your weight on one leg
stick your butt far out on the leg you’re standing on
put the other leg out in front of you and point your toe
angle your arm / the phone above you so you see part of your face and your whole butt under your arm
turn your body a bit away from the phone to show more of it
here I’m using my other hand to cover my nips because the bralette is see-through, but you can also make a piece sign, touch your lips, touch your hair, etc. - keep that hand up though so it doesn’t get lost in the photo
tongue out optional but always a good look
The peekaboo
This is a nice elongating sitting pose where you’re hiding all the goods but just barely, making it seem like they could OOPS show at any moment. Lezzz do dis:
sit down on the floor in front of a full-length mirror
angle your body forward but your legs off to one side
bring the knee of the leg closer to the mirror up and bend it, and let the other leg still be bent but much lower
point both of your toes!!! (so important)
one of your feet will be further forward than the other
bring the arm closer to the mirror in to hide your boobies, and put the other arm (and your weight) behind you
make sure you’re turned enough so that your crotch is just on the edge of showing, but isn’t
make sure you’re leaning your weight back far enough to hide your other boobie
push your butt out on the side where the camera can see it - you’ll end up pulling the heel of that foot up a bit off the floor because your weight will be on the other butt cheek
now tilt your head over so your hair is flowing down the butt side
you can hide some of your face behind your phone for more mystery (so dang mysterious!)
The hourglass
This pose is amazing because it’ll accentuate an hourglass figure on every body.
sit in front of a full-length mirror again, but this time face away from it
your body will be facing exactly away from the mirror, not angled in either direction
bend your knees and sit your butt down onto your legs, so your feet are folded under your butt - it’s ok if you can’t sit all the way, you can still do this pose even if your butt isn’t touching your feet
turn to whichever side of your face you find more flattering (we all have that one side we like more, ugh) - that’s the side that you’ll be showing
push your butt out backwards and arch your lower back - your torso will move forward a bit but try to keep it back and above your butt as much as possible while maintaining the butt out and back arch
put your phone up to the side you prefer and turn your head in that direction as well
you can hide the other arm in front of you so it’s out of the photo
make sure your hair is gliding down your back behind you (if you have long hair)
angle your face a bit forward and up so your jawline is like BAM
keep your shoulder down
point your toes
enjoy that peach girl!
The sexy torso
No mirror needed for this one! It’s just you, your butt, and a sexy angle. Simple and effective.
hold your phone out in front of you (I hold mine upside down to make it easier to click the camera button)
put all of your weight on one leg and stick your butt out far on that same side (see a theme? ;)
put the other leg out to the side a bit, turned out so your inner thigh is showing
suck in your stomach and tighten your abs!
cover your boobies with your free arm, making sure to come at them from below so you push up and in to create a nice underboob vibe
cut off the top of your face with the camera angle and leave your lips open because you ready for dem kisses
[Ready to feel good in your body and grow self love? I’ll teach you how]
The gratuitous butt one
This is for the peach lovers. Basically just showing off your bum. Never a bad idea ;)
stand facing away from a full-length mirror
wear a flowy long dress so you can dramatically pick it up to show what’s underneath
put your weight on one foot and take the other foot out to the side (not forward)
point your toe on the leg that’s out!
now the hard part - stick your butt out A LOT while arching your lower back but also keep your torso from going too far forward (keep as upright as possible while still keeping your butt out and back arched)
make sure your hair is flowing down your back
bring one arm out to your side to hold the phone, while the other picks up your dress and holds it in front to show your full bum action
keep your chin up and out for the best jawline angles
The sweater peek
This is super straightforward (it’s just you standing in front of a mirror), but it’s very sexy because you’re pulling up that sweater.
put on a sweater
stand in front of a mirror
put all of your weight on one leg, stick your butt out on that side, and put your other leg out in the other direction pointed out so your inner thigh is showing
grab the sweater in the middle and pull it up; make sure your hand is doing something pretty and hasn’t turned into a claw
push up and in on your boobies with the sweater hand to get some sweet sweet underboobage
suck in and tighten those stomach muscles
put your hair in front so it flows down your body and hide your eyes other than your lips because YOU ARE A MYSTERIOUS GODDESS and no one should look you directly in your eyes lest they turn to stone
bring the elbow of the hand holding the phone in front of your body to cover up any skin rolls we’ve all got there from scrunching that side
That fiTness butt angle
You know, that really really hard one to get. Like how do they stand like that and it’s like taken from underneath sort of but all their butt is huge and their waist is tiny and who looks like that anyway. Yeah, that one. Let’s break it down, booty babes!
stand in front of a full-length mirror sideways
bring the front leg forward and put your weight on it but keep a little bend in the knee
keep your back leg straight and behind
turn your hips forward and in (away from the mirror) more and more until your back butt cheek is visible just a bit (don’t move your legs though)
now turn your waist the other direction, toward the mirror
push your booty out, tense your tummy
your torso might move backwards away from the mirror a bit and that’s ok
cover your boobz with the hand further from the mirror
turn your phone upside down and bring it close to the mirror and lower so it’s close to hip level to get THE SHOT
if you have long hair, let it flow down your back
it helps to wear a high cut thong for this one as it’ll accentuate your big bum and your tiny waist
cut your face off in this picture because you can’t have that much booty AND your beautiful face in the same shot - don’t want to hurt anyone here
[Ready to feel good in your body and grow self love? I’ll teach you how]
The over the shoulDer
Phew, let’s go back to something easy after that last one. This is just a nice reminder that hey, I may be wearing a sweater, but there’s something sexy waiting underneath.
stand with your back to a full length mirror
put all of your weight onto the back leg and stick your butt out on the same side
put your other leg far out in front of you and bend it a little at the knee, and point. that. toe
bring the hand that isn’t taking the photo up in front of your boobies, out of the photo (if you’re feeling extra saucy, put a finger in the mouth or over your lips)
now make a sexy face (there’s that tongue again, but you can also just open your mouth a bit and/or pout those lips) and shoot a selfie over your shoulder with half face and half body visible
PHEW WE DID IT. Now that you know how, grab those cute undies and shoot some sexy selfies girlfriend! And send them send them send them!
If you’re feeling SUPER daring, add that sexy photo to your Instagram posts or stories and tag me @juliaotest and @underclubco so we can share your beauties!!!
And happy V-Day beauty, whether you have a partner or not, celebrate your self and your sexiness today and every day.
Love always xx
[Ready to feel good in your body and grow self love? I’ll teach you how]