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Executive Portrait Wardrobe Tips

Executive Portrait Wardrobe Tips to help you and your team maximize your marketing portrait sessions.
Executive Portrait Wardrobe Tips to help you and your team maximize your marketing portrait sessions.

Executive portrait wardrobe tips

Lou Masalla, portrait

Here are my Executive Portrait Wardrobe Tips for contemporary business portraits. These can be quickly and easily created at your location or even easier in our studio. And can be easily adapted for use on web sites, e-newsletters, press packets, brochures and presentation posters.

But, a little preparation can help make sure that your executive portrait is optimized for your marketing.

What should I wear for my headshot?

The simplest executive portrait wardrobe tip is to choose clothes that you feel good in.

They can be formal or informal, based on the audience that you are targeting with the picture. In most cases, you won’t go wrong by being a little conservative.

Choose clothes that you would wear to a meeting with a client or investor. Choose clothes that you know you look good in them. Bring a few options to the shoot. You can’t get a second opinion if you only have one choice. But, don’t bring stuff that you don’t like.

Remember, if you are not comfortable in the clothes you choose, then you will not look comfortable.

If you don’t look comfortable, the picture will not have the impact we want.

PreShoot Preparation: Mental Prep

Steven T., Vice President Sales and Marketing Bioprocessing

A few days before the shoot, pick out the outfit(s) and get them dry cleaned or at least ironed.

Get a good night’s rest before the session. Drink plenty of water so you are nice and hydrated.

If you are going to shave, do so a few hours before the session.

If you are doing your own grooming/makeup, remember to bring some hair product (if you use it), moisturizer, and a hair brush or comb to the session.

Pack everything up the night before, so you won’t be rushed on the day of the shoot.

Hair and Makeup? What is a Groomer, Anyway?

Executive Portrait Wardrobe Tips
Groomer tweaking the Tie/Collar interaction

Simply put, a groomer is a hair and makeup person for men.

“Do I need to use a Hair and Makeup Person/Groomer?” Short answer is that I highly recommend them.

Almost any famous person you see on the cover of a magazine was at least touched up by someone who knows what they are doing for the camera.

“Do I have to?” No, of course not!

But, keep in mind, you are making an investment in an image that will help you make your living. A good groomer or makeup artist can give your image the polish and edge you want.

Executive Portrait Sessions: On Set

Groomer doing a little last minute on set tweaks

The most important thing that we will work together on is you being relaxed and yourself.

Believe it or not, that is what people really react to in a business portrait. The camera is not your enemy, it is simply a tool that we are using while we are having a conversation on set.

Don’t worry about how you look or how many frames I am taking. Just relax and have fun with it and we will have a lot of great images to choose from.

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