What Women Should Wear
for a Headshot.

Almost everything women arrive worrying about is below the crop. The frame starts around mid-chest, so the skirt, the trousers, the shoes and the bag never appear. What is left is a narrow band of fabric from the collarbone up, whatever is around your neck and ears, and how the colour sits against the backdrop. That is four decisions, and the first one carries most of the weight.

This is the women's companion to our general what to wear for headshots guide, which covers the rules that apply to everybody, and to what men should wear for a headshot. The problems below are the ones that actually come up in women's sessions.

What the frame actually shows

A standard headshot is cropped from roughly mid-chest to just above the hair. On LinkedIn that image is then masked into a circle — a few hundred pixels on your profile, and about 48 pixels wide beside a comment. At that size, a neckline is a shape and a colour, and nothing finer than that survives.

Which means the question is not whether an outfit is flattering head to toe. It is what a six-inch band around your neck and shoulders does in a circle. If you are also booking a three-quarter or seated environmental shot, the rest comes back into play — say so when you book and bring the whole outfit.

Necklines, which is most of the decision

A neckline does two jobs at this crop: it draws a line that frames your face, and it decides how much skin is in the picture. Shapes that hold up well:

• Crew, jewel and high scoop. A clean horizontal line across the collarbone, nothing competing with your jaw. The most reliable choice there is, and the reason so many headshots are shot in a plain knit.
• Collared shirt or blouse. Same advantages as a man's collar, with the same caveat — a soft collar left open collapses under lights and splays sideways. Press it, and if it has no structure, wear it under a jacket or buttoned one higher.
• A moderate V. Lengthens without emptying the frame. The test is where it finishes: a V that ends above the sternum reads as professional, one that ends below it becomes the subject of the photograph.
• Boat neck. Good for shoulder line, but it can make shoulders look wider at a tight crop than they do in a mirror, so it is worth a second option.

The two that cause trouble are a very deep scoop or wrap, which leaves a large area of bare chest in a frame that is mostly face and chest, and anything strapless or near-strapless, which at this crop can read as wearing nothing at all. Neither is a modesty argument — it is that both put the eye somewhere other than your face, which is the only thing the photo is for. If a deep neckline is genuinely your professional look, a jacket or a necklace that sits high solves it in a second.

Straps, sleeves and shoulders

Sleeve length is irrelevant, because your arms are not in the picture. Three things about the top half of a garment are not.

The shoulder seam should land on the outside edge of your shoulder. A seam hanging an inch down the arm makes the shoulder slope, and a sloping shoulder at a tight crop looks like slumping however straight you are sitting. In a jacket, a collar that lifts away from the neck when you sit puts that gap at the centre of the frame.

Straps. Sleeveless photographs perfectly well — a shell top under a jacket is a standard corporate look. Thin straps are the risk, partly because they disappear at thumbnail size and partly because a bra strap showing on one side only is a five-second fix in the room and a fiddly one afterwards. Check both shoulders in a mirror while seated, not standing.

Fabric that creases. Linen and loose silk look relaxed on and arrive at the studio with fold lines across the chest, which is exactly where the light is brightest. A knit, a ponte, a crepe or a pressed cotton holds its shape through a session. If you are booking a whole team, our corporate headshots page covers how a group day keeps everyone at the same level of formality.

Jewellery that survives a tight crop

Jewellery is the one category where small and dull beats large and bright, which is the opposite of how it works in person.

Studio flash reflects off anything polished. A high-shine pendant or a mirror-finish hoop throws a specular highlight that can be brighter than your face, and the eye goes to the brightest thing in a frame every time. Brushed, matte or textured metal does the same decorative job without competing. Keep necklaces above the crop line or well clear of it — a chain that finishes halfway down your chest gets cut in half by the frame, which looks like an accident.

Earrings have a second problem: they move. Drop or dangling earrings swing, so across a set of frames they are rarely at the same angle on both sides, and the best expression often arrives in the frame where one earring is sideways. Studs, small huggies and anything that sits against the ear avoid it entirely. Statement pieces also date a photograph faster than clothing does, which matters for an image you want to keep using for three years.

If you wear glasses every day, wear them — a photo without them does not look like you to anyone who knows you, and the reflections are our problem rather than yours. Headshots with glasses covers how we deal with them.

Colour, pattern and the backdrop

Mid-tones. Navy, charcoal, mid-grey, olive, burgundy, deep teal, rust and forest all photograph cleanly and keep the attention on your face. Jewel tones are the most forgiving colour family for most skin tones, and a mid-blue is close to universal.

Both failure modes are about contrast with the background rather than the colour itself. Pure white against a light grey backdrop blows out and dissolves the edge of your shoulder; black against a dark backdrop does the reverse and leaves a head with no body under it. Since the backdrop is chosen at the session, bringing one light and one dark option means we can always build separation — headshot background colours sets out which pairings work.

On pattern: fine stripes, small florals and tight checks are the three that misbehave, because the repeat interacts with the sensor and then with the downscaling to thumbnail size. They look fine on the back of the camera and shimmer on a profile page. A solid, or a pattern with elements bigger than your thumbnail, is reliable.

Hair, and the week before

Decide up or down before you arrive, and if you cannot, bring what you need to do both and we will shoot both. What does not work is deciding in the chair, because hair takes longer than anything else in the session and the version you settle on ends up rushed.

Two timing rules. If you colour your hair, book the session one to two weeks after a touch-up rather than the day after, when the line at the part is at its most visible. And do not make a significant change in the week before — a new cut or a new shade you have not lived with yet is the one thing a photograph cannot be talked out of.

Hair falling across one eye or stuck to a lip gloss reads as untidy at high resolution, and it is far easier to brush it back between frames than to rebuild it afterwards, so we will tell you when it happens. Flyaways we handle in the edit. For makeup specifically — matte over dewy, and why a mineral SPF moisturiser can leave a grey cast under flash — see our headshot makeup guide, and for the twenty-four hours before the session, how to prepare for a headshot session.

Frequently asked questions

What should a woman wear for a professional headshot?

A plain mid-tone top with a defined neckline — crew, jewel, a collared blouse or a moderate V — and a jacket over it if the people you want to be hired by wear jackets. That is most of the decision, because nothing below mid-chest is in the frame. Bring a second and third option in a different colour so we can see what works against the backdrop.

What neckline is best for a headshot?

A crew or high scoop is the most reliable, because it draws a clean line across the collarbone and leaves nothing competing with your jaw. A collared shirt and a moderate V both work well too. The ones to avoid are a very deep scoop or wrap and anything strapless, which at a tight crop put the eye on bare chest rather than on your face.

Can I wear a sleeveless top for a headshot?

Yes — your arms are not in the frame, and a sleeveless shell under a jacket is a standard corporate look. The thing to check is strap width: thin straps disappear at thumbnail size, and a bra strap showing on one shoulder only is quick to fix in the room and fiddly to fix afterwards. Look at both shoulders in a mirror while seated rather than standing.

What jewellery should I wear for a headshot?

Small and matte rather than large and polished. Studio flash reflects off a high-shine pendant or a mirror-finish hoop and the highlight can end up brighter than your face, so brushed or textured metal is safer. Studs beat drop earrings because dangling earrings swing, and the best expression tends to arrive in the frame where one of them is sideways.

Should I get my hair done before a headshot?

A blow-dry on the day is worth it if you normally have one; a new cut or colour in the week before is not. If you colour your hair, book one to two weeks after a touch-up rather than the day after, when the line at the part shows most. Decide up or down before you arrive, or bring what you need for both and we will shoot both.