My first piece of advice is wear whatever makes you feel good!
I like to wear t-shirts and sweaters because… well, they’re comfortable! But also I want my brand and my personality to come across as relaxed and fun just like it is in real life.
But if you want to portray your personal brand as more professional or you’re representing a company on video, a classic shirt and blazer combo can’t go wrong.
There are a few things you should try to avoid when you’re choosing outfits for the camera because their shape, colour or pattern doesn’t always look the same as it does in real life.
Colour
A few weeks ago I went to record a video with a blue couch in the background and I had a blue shirt on… I checked my test footage and realised I looked a bit like a floating head. Sorry favourite blue shirt, not today.
Try to wear a color that contrasts your background so that you stand out more. When so many people are watching videos on a small screen, if you wear something that is very close to your background colour, at first glance, they may just see a bobblehead!
Necklines
This one is really down to personal preference and what you feel comfortable wearing on camera. For example, I prefer to wear t-shirts, sweaters, or something with a high neckline to be on video. I prefer the way it looks!
This also has to do with a framing concept called ‘leading lines’. If you have a head and shoulder shot and wear a t-shirt, a button-up or something with a high neckline, the shot is ‘closed off’ at the bottom of the frame and the focus is lead to your face.
If you have a head and shoulder shot and you wear a lower-cut singlet that doesn’t make it into the frame, the shot is not closed off, and the eye may be led away.
Pin Stripes
Pinstripes and really thin patterns can often cause a ‘strobing’ effect on video because the camera can’t really process it properly.
It doesn’t look very good and it’s kind of distracting so when you’re choosing an outfit to wear on camera try to stick to more block patterns or just avoid things that have really delicate, fine details.
Camera vs Reality…
I like to wear really loud and out-there clothes in real life… sometimes I decide to tone it down for my videos. I have pink hair after all!
Sometimes clothes that look great in real life don’t always look good on camera. This could be things like the neckline doesn’t quite look right when it’s up close, it could be baggy outfits that don’t give you a flattering figure, or it can even be the pattern just doesn’t look as good as it does in real life.
Cuff Length
I don’t like when sleeves touch my wrist at the best of times, but there’s also a reason for rolling up your sleeves.
If you have a mid-shot; a shot that shows your body to the waist; roll your cuffs up to the smallest point of your body, generally at the waist. This will help you to achieve a slimmer, more balanced look.
Noisy Jewellery!
Try to avoid noisy jewellery like bracelets, earrings and especially necklaces that can rattle near your microphone. The last thing you want is to annoy your audience with a dingle-dangle throughout your video.
Test record! Test record! Test record!
Always do a test record to make sure you’re happy with what you look like, that there’s nothing crazy going on with your hair or makeup, and make sure your audio sounds good before you do the real recording.
The worst thing is to get to the edit and realise you don’t like the way your outfit looks on camera or your audio doesn’t quite sound right, and letting these things stop you from uploading your video.
I do a test record for every single video I make. Even if I have someone helping me I always look back before we do the full recording and make sure that I’m happy with how I look.
When I work as my clients I always make sure they look at their footage before we do the full run-through as well to make sure they are happy with how they look. What one person sees, another person may see something completely different – and as we all know, we are the most critical of ourselves.
Saying that, don’t focus too much on how you look on camera because it’s your knowledge and experience that people watch your videos to hear!
I hope these tips help you to choose an outfit for your next video. If you have any questions please leave me a comment below so I can answer them for you.
Until next time, happy creating!