Top Five Tips: How to dress for a headshot session
One of the most common questions I get from clients is What should I wear for my headshot? This is a great question, and what you wear is one of the most important factors in making your headshot session successful. So, here are my top five tips to help you pick the right clothing for your headshot.
1. There’s no such thing as too many options.
One of the best pieces of advice I can give you is to bring MORE options than you think you need. While I suggest a minimum of 3 outfits to my clients, I am always glad when they show up with a bunch of options. Sometimes they are apologetic about bringing a bunch of clothes, but I prefer this over having only two or three things to choose from.
Also, you might think you don’t look good in a certain color or style, but it’s my job as the photographer to see what you don’t. There have been so many instances where a client says something like, “Well I brought this because you told me to but I look terrible in this color!” My reply is usually something like, “Okay, well let’s just see how you look in it and if you don’t like it we will try something else.” 9 times out of 10 they LOVE the way they look in it.
2. Keep it SIMPLE!
Whether you are going for an actor headshot, corporate headshot, or if you are just building your online brand, one of the worst things you can do is wear busy clothes. A headshot is called a headshot because we want to see YOU, not your crazy suit jacket. Wearing a super busy shirt, wild colors, a weird blouse with floppy or poofy shoulders or a knitted pattern, or anything else like this, results in a weak headshot. The best thing you can do is wear simple tops with solid colors or patterns, and bring options that are classic. For men, no electric blue shirt, yellow tie, and crazy pin striped suit. For women, no crazy floral patterns with strings and bows hanging everywhere.
3. Bring clean, pressed, new clothes.
Haha this sounds so obvious, but unfortunately it’s NOT. I have had clients show up with clothes that look, well, let’s just say not fresh… I’ve had clients show up with tattered collars, missing buttons, etc. (mostly men of course), and man, that is such a drag! Another thing to remember is that although we as photographers usually have steam presses, these are used to touch up clothes that you travelled with, not to be used as a complete ironing service. If we have to press everything for you, you are wasting valuable time in the shoot and also ruining the vibe for you and your photographer.
4. Dress for your career and remember there are no hard and fast “rules” anymore.
Although there are considerations for your particular industry, at this point many of these standards have been relaxed. Don’t get me wrong, if you are in a high power corporate job, you need a killer suit. But if you are a teacher, an entrepreneur, a realtor, or one of many other industries, you can certainly be creative in your choices. For men, try ditching the tie and go a bit more casual with your suit. For women, don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of blouse cuts (keep it classy!). In fact, sometimes the simplist (a plain black t shirt) looks the best. So, make sure you follow tip #1 so that you have all the options you need.
5. Color is EVERYTHING.
I can’t stress this enough. COLOR IS EVERYTHING. I rather have a client show up with five different colors of the same shirt than with five completely different styles of “blue” shirts. Again, you might think a certain color doesn’t flatter you, but in my experience clients are often surprised by how much they love photos in a color they didn’t think was flattering to them.
Well, there it is. If you follow these top five tips, you are sure to look GOOD in your headshot!