The short answer: wear solid colors in mid to deep tones, choose something that fits cleanly through the shoulders, and dress at the same level of formality as the rest of your team. That covers most of it. The rest of this guide is the detail behind that answer, written as much for the person organizing a company headshot day as for the people sitting for one.
Wardrobe decides more of the result than most people expect. A headshot is a tight frame, so whatever you wear sits right next to your face, and on a team page it sits next to everyone else's too.
Agree on one level of formality first
For a team headshot, the most important choice is not any single outfit. It is the level of formality everyone lands on. A staff page where half the team wears suits and half wears T-shirts looks like two different companies, however well each portrait is lit. Decide it once, at the company level, and tell people before the day: full suit and tie, a jacket without a tie, or smart business casual with no jacket. Any of the three works. Mixing them is what doesn't.
Within that level, variety is fine and usually looks better than a uniform. The three portraits at the top of this post were made in one session: a striped wrap dress, a black sleeveless vest and a light grey suit. They read as one set because the formality is close and the light and background are the same for everybody. Nobody had to match.
Colors that photograph well
Solid colors in mid to deep tones are the safest choice: navy, charcoal, deep green, burgundy, soft blues and warm neutrals. They keep the attention on your face and they hold detail in the fabric.
A large area of bright white, such as a white shirt with no jacket over it, tends to lose its texture and pull the eye down and away from the face. Under a jacket it is fine. Neon and very saturated colors can throw a tint of their own color up onto the skin under the chin. And be careful with anything close to the background color. On a grey backdrop, a grey sweater can make your shoulders disappear into it. If we are photographing against your own office, ask us what will be behind you and pick something that stands apart from it.
Patterns, logos and texture
Small, tight, high contrast patterns, such as fine pinstripes, narrow checks and small houndstooth, can produce moiré: a rippling shimmer that appears when an image is resized for a website or a phone screen. You cannot see it in the room, and it changes with the size the photo is shown at, which is why it tends to surprise people later. Bolder patterns, like the stripe in the portrait above, and quiet textures like knit, tweed or linen are generally fine.
Leave large logos and printed text at home. Your headshot will be in use for years, often on sites other than your own, and a brand across your chest dates it and competes with your face. A company polo is the exception, when that is genuinely what the team wears to work and the whole set is photographed that way.
Fit, collars and layers
A standard headshot shows roughly the chest up, so the top half of your outfit does all the work. What matters most is the fit through the shoulders and at the collar: a jacket that sits cleanly, a collar that lies flat, and nothing pulling at the buttons. Try on anything new before the day, and have it tailored if it needs it.
A jacket or another structured layer adds shape and makes most people look more settled in the frame. Press or steam whatever you plan to wear, because creases show more on camera than they do in a mirror. If your session also includes wider environmental portraits for press, an annual report or a speaker bio, the whole outfit is in the frame, so trousers, skirts and shoes need the same care as the jacket.
Glasses, jewelry, hair and grooming
If you wear glasses every day, wear them for your headshot. The people who will look at the photo know you with them on. Reflections in the lenses are a lighting problem for us to solve on the day, not a reason to take them off.
Keep jewelry simple enough that it never catches the eye before your face does. A haircut a week or so before the session usually looks more natural than one the day before. Bring whatever you normally use to tidy up, a comb, a lint roller and blotting papers for shine, and take a minute in front of a mirror before you sit down.
Dressing for a headshot day in Phoenix
For much of the year in the Valley, the walk from the car is the hardest part of the session. A jacket worn across a parking lot in July arrives creased and damp. Carry it in instead, bring your shirt or blouse on a hanger if you can change at the office, and give yourself a few minutes indoors to cool down before your time. Shine on the forehead and nose is far easier to prevent with a blotting paper than to deal with afterwards.
This is one more reason a fixed schedule helps on a team day. When people know their slot, they can arrive cool and ready instead of running in from the heat between other commitments.
A note you can send your team
If you are organizing the session, copy this into an email or your team channel about a week before the day and fill in the brackets:
Headshots are on [date] in [room]. Please arrive a few minutes before your time.
Dress code: [for example, jacket, no tie needed].
Wear solid colors in mid to deep tones. Please avoid fine stripes, small checks, large logos and neon.
Make sure your top half fits well and is pressed. If you wear glasses every day, wear them.
It is hot out: carry your jacket in and give yourself a few minutes to cool down before your slot.
Planning a session for your company? Here is how our corporate headshots in Phoenix work, from a two person leadership team to a whole office photographed in one visit.