Key takeaways
- Solid, mid-tone colours keep the focus on your face, navy, deep green, burgundy and charcoal flatter most people.
- A great headshot pays off: LinkedIn members with a photo get up to 21x more profile views.
- Match your outfit to your industry, and dress one notch smarter than your everyday work clothes.
- Mind necklines and shoulder fit; a clean neckline and sharp shoulder line read as confidence.
- Avoid tight patterns, stripes, logos and heavy retouching, simpler always reads as more confident.
A great headshot is mostly about the person, but what you wear quietly shapes how approachable, confident and current you look, and given how much a good headshot does for you, it is worth getting right. The rules are simple: solid mid-tone colours, a clean neckline, good fit, and styling matched to your industry. Here is a complete guide to what to wear for your headshot, and what to avoid.
Why what you wear matters
What you wear matters because your headshot is one of the most-seen and most-judged images of your professional life. On LinkedIn alone, members with a photo receive up to 21 times more profile views, 9 times more connection requests and 36 times more messages than those without, so the image, and how polished you look in it, directly affects how often you are found and engaged.
Clothing is the part of a headshot you control most. The right choices keep attention on your face and make you look current and confident; the wrong ones distract or date the image. A little thought here meaningfully improves the result.
Choose solid, mid-tone colours
Solid colours are the safest, strongest choice because they keep the focus on your face rather than your outfit. Mid-tones, navy, deep green, burgundy, charcoal, soft blue, flatter most skin tones and photograph cleanly, while very bright or very pale colours can dominate or wash you out.
Avoid tight patterns, stripes and small checks, which can flicker oddly on screen (an effect called moiré), and steer clear of large logos and slogans. If you want a little personality, add it through a single accent, a tie, a scarf, a jacket, not a busy print.
Match the tone to your industry
Dress for where the headshot will live and the impression your field expects. A lawyer, banker or consultant suits formal tailoring; a creative, founder or marketer can dress more relaxed but still polished. As a rule, dress one notch smarter than your everyday work clothes, and when in doubt, simpler reads as more confident.
Think about your specific use too: a corporate website, LinkedIn, a casting profile and a personal-brand shoot each have slightly different expectations. Tell us how the image will be used and we will advise on styling that fits.
Mind the neckline and fit
Necklines frame your face, so keep them clean and uncluttered, crew necks, collared shirts, simple V-necks and tailored blouses all work well. Busy or fussy necklines pull the eye away from your expression, which is the heart of the photo.
Fit matters as much as colour: make sure clothes sit well at the shoulders, a sharp shoulder line reads as confidence, while bunched or baggy fabric looks untidy. Bring a lint roller and a backup top in case of last-minute spills, and have anything important pressed.
Keep grooming natural
Aim to look like the best version of an ordinary day, not a special occasion. Natural make-up photographs better than heavy coverage, and hair styled the way you usually wear it keeps the image true to you. The goal is recognisable and polished, not transformed.
We apply gentle, professional retouching, smoothing distractions while keeping you looking like yourself. Over-editing is a common mistake that makes people look less authentic and less trustworthy, so we keep it light and natural.
Bring options, and a few don'ts
Bring two or three outfit options so we can compare them on screen and choose what reads best, what looks good in the mirror does not always photograph the same way. Variety also gives you a small set of looks from one session.
- Do bring solid, well-fitting, pressed clothes in mid-tones, plus a backup top.
- Don't wear large logos, slogans or very busy patterns.
- Don't choose brand-new clothes you have not worn, comfort shows.
- Do match the formality to your industry and intended use.
- Do keep grooming natural and tell us how the image will be used.
If you are booking headshots for a whole team, send everyone an outfit guide like this in advance, a consistent, well-styled set looks far more professional on your website. We are always glad to advise before the session.
Related: professional headshots, LinkedIn headshot tips, new year, new headshot, book your session.