What to Wear for Headshots | Minneapolis Headshot Portraits

WHAT TO WEAR FOR YOUR HEADSHOT SESSION

You’ve scheduled your headshot portrait session. You know you want to look both professional AND approachable. Now what should you wear? Glasses or no glasses? Should you dress like you do every day, or kick it up a notch?

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Wear something you feel good in

This is my Number 1 tip. Feeling good in what you’re in takes precedence over everything else. Seriously. Your headshot should represent you being naturally you, and looking great doing it.

But if you'd like a little more guidance...

Keep the focus on you

Avoid very bright colors. “Hot” colors like magenta or neons don’t get along well with the camera and can be distracting.

Avoid large blocks of white (i.e. just a white button up dress shirt). A white shirt under a jacket or blazer is totally great. It’s the large swaths of white we’re trying to avoid.

Darker colors like black and navy tend to be slimming and more timeless (less seasonal or trend-heavy).

If you’re debating whether to take some photos with your jacket or scarf and some without, bring both and we’ll do some of each. For many headshot sessions, you’re welcome to bring a whole other outfit or three. It’s always better to have the options, and you may be surprised which you like better.

And for my sake after the fact, please lint roll! 🙂

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Pay attention to accessories

Glasses vs. no glasses? It’s personal preference, but just let me know if you'd like a mix of both options.

Fitness watches, hair binders on wrists, etc. may show. Remove anything you don't want included. I’ll keep an eye out and ask about these items too.

95% of fashion/accessory/jewelry questions are personal preference (my observation and not a real statistic), so go with what you feel good in! See my Number 1 Tip above.

Know your goal

What message do you want to portray? Maybe these should be more formal headshots for clients to see that you’re professional, trustworthy, and knowledgeable. Or perhaps you want to make it clear to future clients that you are fun, relatable, creative, and game to collaborate. Maybe you’re an actor who needs a headshot that’s a very accurate representation and also shows your versatility.

The key here is to dress for your goal, and the message you want to portray.

Just be you

Easy to say, I know, but here’s the thing. Every one of these guidelines can be successfully broken when it’s true to who you are. So keep it simple: always, always wear something you’re comfortable and feel great in.