your flattering wardrobe

And why black isn’t always slimming

Tone

The very first thing to identify when choosing the right outfit for your shoot is determining the overall mood or tone of the shoot. For business portraits, you will want to think about the industry or company that you work in, and the people who will be seeing your photo (your audience). How will your wardrobe reflect both your personality or, the version of yourself that you’d like to present. You may want to start with the context of where the image will be seen, or perhaps the type of background or location you’d like to use. Then you can start piecing together an outfit that speaks of who you are, and what you’re about.

CONTEXT

It’s worth thinking about the format that this will be presented as. It may be a 3/4 crop, or it may just be head and shoulders. If for example, you are having a head and shoulders headshot, you might want to focus on flattering neck lines, and clean design so as not to distract from your face. For full length of 3/4 images, you’ll want to make sure the whole outfit works, and hows a long flow. Designs with long lines (through the cut and design, I don’t mean pinstripes here), will bring an elegant and flattering length to the outfit.

Wear clothes you love

I always encourage my clients to wear clothes that the already know, and love. When you are comfortable in what you wear, it will show. The energy of familiarity and comfort, has a noticeable difference in your energy on camera.

well fitting clothes

It seems obvious, but well fitting clothes are flattering. One thing I see often in particular, are jackets which are not quite right, either over-sized. In the studio we sometimes clip the clothes when they’re When the jackets fit well, then the lapels can come close together, leaving a flattering strip running down the centre of your frame. If a jacket isn’t well fitted, then it might look like the subject is bursting out of it, creating a more ‘round’ composition, rather than a long flattering one.

Long Lines Vs Shape

For women, I have found that long lines seem to be the more flattering option, elongating the body, and the composition. Layering clothes can help with this, with the lines of the top panels leading vertically down the figure. For men, we ideally want to emphasise the shape of the torso, with a slimmer waist-line where possible, compared to the shoulders. In both cases, the way we shoot each instance can help to emphasise the desired outcome. I will help guide you through this on the day.

Black, and the blob effect

We have all heard that black is slimming, but black can also be the opposite if the outfit doesn’t fit correctly, or the overall shape is what matters. One thing to consider is that both white and black are at the extreme end of the tonal spectrum, which in a photography sense means that there is less tone within the blacks themselves. This leaves us with the outline or shape, and if we don’t get a flattering outline, the black jacket, or dress might get what I call the ‘Blob Effect’.

The best way to work with Black is to ensure the outline of the outfit is well-fitted where it needs to be, and isn’t too loose, or puffy. Clean long lines, well-fitted jackets and layering can create flattering and striking photography. Pairing a black item, open at the front with a lighter tone underneath can help to break up the heaviness of the black, and create a flattering vertical line down the the centre of your frame

Launder and Iron your clothes.