Senior Portrait Clothing Tips

What to Wear:

1. Bring one or two extra outfits so you can have choices once the session begins.

2. A great headshot for the yearbook means wearing the right shirt. For guys, bring a button down shirt with or without a tie or a sweater. For girls, a V-neck or scoop neck shirt or sweater looks great! Choose a medium to darker colored shirt with little or no pattern. Distracting patterns or really light colors take attention away from your face. Also make sure the shirt is long sleeved. Sleeveless shirts don’t work well either for head shots.

3. Bring one dressy outfit and one casual. Be sure to dress from head to toe including socks and shoes because some shots may be full body.

4. Bring along hats, sunglasses, jackets, and jewelry to accessorize your outfits. Better to bring too much than too little.

5. Bring along makeup and any hair styling products that you use.   Make sure to keep your makeup neutral and natural.   Stay away from bold colors that may look dated in a couple years.   Remember you will be enjoying these portraits for many years!

6. Bring clothing on hangers instead of in a bag so your outfits won’t be wrinkled when you arrive.

7.   Glasses – if you have glasses I recommend asking your eye doctor to borrow a pair of your frames for the portrait session.   He may also be able to pop the lenses out your own pair.   This will eliminate the unwanted glass glare that is unavoidable in most portraits.

What Not To Wear:

1. Stripes or distracting patterns.   These types of clothing can make you look heavier in portraits.   Solid, dark colored clothing can take up to 22 pounds off in the portrait and busy and distracting patterns can add up to 22 pounds.

2. Trendy, outrageous fashions.   These may be great for going out with your friends, but styles change so quickly that your senior portraits will look outdated fast.

3. Don’t wear lip gloss because it can add unwanted white glare on your lips in the portraits.

4. Spaghetti straps.   Thin straps on an outfit draw attention away from your face and onto your shoulders and arms.   This tends to make people look heavier than they actually are.

5. White shirts, unless your whole outfit is white.   White draws attention away from your face and focuses the attention on the shirt, not you.