Are you considering getting a professional headshot taken? Looking for some help about what to wear? We’ve put together a guide for women preparing to make an impression and shine their brightest when posing for professional headshots.
Why What You Wear Matters
Choosing what to wear as a woman can be difficult, no matter the occasion. From style to layers, length to accessory matching, a lot goes into choosing the right outfit for each setting.
Choosing an outfit for a professional headshot can carry even more pressure. With a headshot, your outfit choice is going to be memorialized in time along with your face for some period of time.
So why do you need a headshot for your career?
This depiction may exist across the internet as your professional front-facing image, or be presented as a first impression to a hiring manager. Images can convey a subconscious message about personality and competency, and contribute to your professional success.
It is key then that every element of your headshot is perfect, right down to what you wear.
To help you out, we’ve put together a guide to make this process a little easier, covering colors and styles as well as peripheral outfit considerations such as hair, makeup and accessories. We’ll cover AI alternatives as well as common mistakes to avoid.
8 Top Tips to Get You Looking Your Best!
1. Scope the Scene: Background Knowledge
Not all professional photo shoots are taken against a plain black or indoor backdrop. Depending on your field of work, headshots could be taken in a corporate staging set, in nature, or depict you posing with your favorite viola, or some other tool related to your job.
Get Talking
Whether you are a musician, dog-walker, or a CEO, it’s important to find out what kind of background the photographer you select typically likes to work with. Communicate openly with your photographer and scope the scene—this will help with choosing the perfect outfit for your headshot.
Your photographer may want to work with you as you usually present, or have set ideas about what colors work best with their existing backdrops. In some headshot styles, outfits are designed to blend in with the background, bringing focus to the face, while others seek equally to draw attention to a manicured, well-presented outfit choice.
Having some idea about the artistic direction and background choices will help narrow down your options in the next stage of outfit selection.
2. Know Yourself: Color Choices
Color and print choices when building an outfit for professional headshots are key. Now that you’ve spoken with your photographer about background, lighting, and artistic direction, it’s time to consider your personal brand, as well as the standards of your field.
Who Are You?
Personal brand is all about the kind of image you want to project about yourself. Do you want to stand out, exuding confidence and leadership? Or do you want to seem like a diligent, reserved, hard worker that fits well on a team? Are you a mom that can “do it all?”
These are all qualities that can be amplified through proper outfit color and style choices. People are multifaceted and can present very differently in different settings, whether at home, at work, or in the gym. Spend some time considering specifically which parts of your personality you would like to shine a light on in a professional context.
What Are Your Colors?
The next step is to match your colors appropriately. The bright, charismatic leader may choose bolder tones, while the demure professional may stick to black, blue or gray, with a plain blouse. The mom who “does it all” may opt for some effortless camel tones in a loose fit.
Consider also your own color tones, from your skin, eyes and hair. Are there shades that tend to flatter you more? An outfit you are complimented in more often? Looking into color analysis and theory can maximize your beauty in a professional headshot.
3. Know Your Field: Style Choices
After considering your personal brand, it’s equally important to consider industry standards across your specific field. This may change your color decisions, but is most likely to impact the style of dress you decide to wear.
Due Diligence
At this stage you might like to conduct some research, looking at professional headshots of successful people in your field, on professional job market websites. Note down common colors, backgrounds, cropping distance, and where outfit styles sit on the casual to corporate style spectrum.
Fit to Field
In some industries a certain professional look is desired. A plain blouse, layered with a fitted blazer is a common combination. Typically the blouse is white, but not sheer, and the blazer is navy, gray or black.
Hair is often slick and in an updo, with limited tasteful jewelry as well as natural looking makeup. In some professions heavier makeup and lipstick is standard for women.
Other fields employ more “tidy casual” looks, such as a blouse without a blazer and hair worn down, or even a plain black t-shirt in some cases, such as acting headshots.
Some fields celebrate bright and unique looks—teachers and artists often opt for bold prints and large earrings, for example. Some professionals in fashion and tech start-ups can even get away with posing in branded hoodies.
Know your industry, and adapt your style accordingly—it shows that you keep up with your field and know what is expected of a professional working within it.
4. Face it: Focus From the Face Up
In a professional headshot, by its very nature, the focus will be on your head. Some headshots do include some of the torso, but in general, focusing on your appearance from the waist up is all you need when preparing for a headshot.
With this in mind, as well as your outfit choices about what to wear from the waist up, everything else on your head needs to be considered—hair, makeup, teeth, and accessories too.
Think Ahead
Some headshot preparations may require a little long-term planning to book some appointments. Getting a fresh hair treatment and hair cut can help your hair shine and look tidy. If your hands may be posed near your face, a fresh manicure may help you look well-presented.
GIve your skin and teeth some love too. A bright white smile is always a good look, so you may want to go for a teeth whitening treatment. Get into clear skin habits and routines, both with topical skincare and your diet—these can make a big difference on photo day.
Photographers have the technology to enhance and correct images after the shoot, but there is always the risk of such tinkering looking unnatural—the better the canvas you can present, and the less editing your photographer has to do, the better your headshots will turn out.
On Headshot Day
If you are confident with your own makeup skills, you may know what shades and styles best flatter your face. For some, hiring a professional makeup artist that knows what looks best on camera may be advantageous.
The same goes for your hair. If you create professional hairstyles frequently, or have an easy-care hair style, you may be able to do your hair yourself. A professional stylist may better understand how to create styles that better emanate your desired personal brand and image.
In many cases, photographers that create professional headshots work regularly with hair and makeup artists, and may have some on board as part of a photoshoot package. Make sure you are clear on this beforehand.
5. To Accessorize or Not to Accessorize
Layers and accessories can be some of the trickiest elements of an outfit to get right. In a headshot, depending on framing and zoom, multiple accessories could be visible to the camera. Which of these should you opt for?
Headshot Standards
Jewelry most often appearing in professional headshots are plain earrings, metal watches and plain wedding bands. These tend to be corporate-appropriate accessories that are commonly worn in any type of office setting.
Less common are more decorative earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. Again, this can depend heavily on the field you are in. If unique and expressive photo shoots are called for, you may find yourself reaching for your favorite matching sets to bring a little pizazz to the photos.
Keep in mind the quality and state of any accessories. Many headshots are taken in sharp focus, close to the face, so any scratches or tarnishing on jewelry pieces may show on the headshot. It is generally advisable to avoid anything too glinty or sparkly.
Keep Your Options Open
If you’re not quite sure whether your jewelry is photoshoot-appropriate, bring along a few different options for your photographer to advise on.
Photographers may see the quality of these pieces in a different light—literally. Certain materials photograph better under heavy studio lighting or outdoors than others.
6. Can We Make Up?
Makeup is a contentious and nuanced part of many professional women’s lives. In some fields, makeup is expected, and is considered to convey a more polished and efficacious worker. In other fields no makeup is the preferred option.
That’s why we’ve focused on makeup a little further in this section.
Consider Field Norms
Makeup expectations can vary from subtle and light “no-makeup makeup” that conveys a bright and healthy face, to heavier styles such as those seen in real estate, beauty, and sales industries, with bold lips and heavy contouring.
In other fields, makeup may be considered spurious or unprofessional, such as certain legal or health fields, as well as for some professional athletes. Women in these fields may opt for lighter coverage options such as BB creams, concealer, and neutral lip balms.
This is again a good time to consider norms you see in the workplace, as well as conducting online research about how successful women in your field present themselves, and how much makeup they wear, if any.
Personal Comfort
Personal comfort is important too. If you don’t like to wear makeup daily, it may be more important for you to choose for a natural look in your headshots, as this can filter out any employers that have strict makeup preferences or guidelines.
Makeup for headshots can be applied so as to not be detected, subtly covering dark circles and blemishes, and generally brightening the face for the photo.
7. Overwhelmed? Consider AI!
Women have a lot to consider when deciding what to wear for a professional headshot. From colors to cuts to personal brands and field norms, as well as the complications of hair, makeup and accessories we understand if the process is making your head spin a little!
If you’d like to get the perfect headshot without most of this hassle, consider using an AI alternative—modern AI can make all the outfit decisions for you, and create a shot of the brightest you—with the shiniest hair, whitest teeth, and perfect “no makeup makeup” face.
Say goodbye to salon appointments and stylist bookings, beauty regimes and professional clothing shopping. With the help of AI you can get your next professional headshot from the comfort of your sofa!
Tell Me More!
Modern AI headshot generators like Portrait Pal generate professional headshots from pre-existing images you already have. The process is simple— just select five images of yourself taken from various angles and lighting and upload them to our system.
It doesn’t matter what you are wearing, or the state of your hair or makeup—Portrait Pal will generate new images of you looking your corporate best! The AI will create various images of you—then you can pick your favorite ones.
Do I have to pay?
How much you pay depends on the AI software you use. At Portrait Pal we offer both free and paid versions of our software. The free version will generate several image options, but generation will take several hours time, and you don’t have control over image specifics.
If you’d like more options, and the power to manage image properties such as poses, color and outfits more closely, then there are paid options to explore that generate much faster and produce higher quality images.
8. Things to Avoid
There are several outfit choices that generally do not translate as well on photographed images, or make a headshot look less professional. Consider avoiding:
- Stripes: Stripes are well known to be distracting and create strange optical illusions when caught on camera.
- Complex and Bold Patterns: For a similar reason to above, avoid patterns that will be complex on the camera lens, and may distract from the face.
- Loose fits: Looser fitting clothing may look frumpy or unprofessional—consider clothing with crisp lines and a close fit.
- Skin tone: Avoid clothing that closely matches your skin tone. This can have the unfortunate effect of making you look unclothed, especially on smaller images.
- Translucent fabrics and low cut necklines: Avoid these fabrics and cuts to maintain a strong professional image, unless this is a norm in your field.
In Summary: Woman’s Quick Guide!
Here’s a quick summary of how women should choose what to wear for professional headshots. If you’re looking for a section to screenshot and save for reference—this is it!
1. Background Knowledge
Communicate with your photographer. Know what kind of conditions you are shooting in and what colors and background you might be photographed against.
2. Color Choices
Consider your brand image, and what qualities you want your headshot to convey. Pick your outfit colors in alignment with this brand image, and consider the background as well.
3. Style Choices
Consider norms in your field—what is standard in the workplace, and what you see conveyed online by successful women in your field. Emulate their style choices. Note especially whether they tend to wear more corporate, tidy casual, or expressive clothing styles.
4. Facial Focus
Remember that in a headshot the focus will be above your waist. Focus your energy on these areas, both with long-term beauty treatments leading up to the shoot, and with your presentation choices on the day. Consider whether stylists will be available.
5. Accessories
Minimal tasteful accessories are the typical recommendation for headshots, including plain earrings, corporate watches and wedding bands. Consider any other accessories in terms of norms in your field, and how they flatter your features. Bring multiple options.
6. Makeup
Makeup expectations vary by field. Consider the standards of your field, and do research online, and act accordingly. Consider also what you would be comfortable wearing at work.
7. AI Alternatives
Consider AI alternatives. AI services such as Portrait Pal can pull together the perfect look for you, generating headshots from the comfort of your couch. Upload a few images of yourself and watch the magic happen!
8. Avoid
Certain choices don’t tend to translate well on images. In general, try to avoid baggy fits, striped patterns, complex large prints, skin-tone colors, translucent fabrics, and low-cut tops. We hope you feel prepared to get your professional looks on and get snapping—or check out an AI headshot generator like Portrait Pal today for a quicker, easier solution.