What to Wear for a Video Interview

At Render Perfect Productions, your Baltimore, Maryland video marketing experts, one of the biggest questions we are asked is what to wear for a video interview. For good reason too, most of those who don’t produce video just simply don’t know what will look good or not look good on camera. Even when we aren’t asked specifically, we still like to make sure that those who will be interviewed know what to avoid and what will make them look great.

The Old Saying is True—Dress for Success

Foremost: Dress how you like to present yourself professionally, wearing clothes you know you look good in, and that makes you feel great. This will give you an extra boost of confidence. But there are lots more factors to consider.

9 Outfit Mistakes to Avoid in Front of the Camera:

1. AVOID all busy, repeating patterns like herringbone, thin stripes, and small checks–even on ties. They ‘vibrate’ on camera.
2. Avoid deep blacks, bright whites, and nudes–they all cause lighting problems.
3. Don’t wear bright green shirts–they’ll give your skin an unhealthy-looking pallor.
4. Avoid sizeable areas of bright red, which can ‘bleed’ on camera.
5. Avoid loose, billowy, or wrinkled clothes–they’ll make you look frumpy.
6. Don’t wear a bright white undershirt–it can show through your shirt under bright TV lights.
7. Avoid scarves and turtlenecks–they can muffle your audio or rub on your microphone.
8. Avoid excessive jewelry–especially jewelry that will glare in the lights or jangle noisily.
9. Avoid light-colored t-shirt style shirts–these make it very difficult to hide the microphone.

8 Wardrobe Tips for Your Best Look:

1. Wear nicely fitted clothes that are well pressed and wrinkle-free.
2. Stick to solid colors that work with your skin tone.
3. Blues, grays, magentas, and browns are all good. Pastels are OK, too.
4. Wear a blue or off-white dress shirt instead of bright white, since white can overexpose.
5. A dark navy suit always looks great on men.
6. A sheath fitted dress is an excellent choice for many women.
7. Wear knee-length socks–if you cross your legs, you don’t want your bare skin showing.
8. Bring an alternate outfit–in case your first choice doesn’t look good on camera.

Logos

If you’re promoting a brand or a cause, it may be appropriate to wear their logo. If not, avoid logos and brand names like the plague. You don’t want to find out later that there’s a conflict of interest between the logo you’re wearing and the people who are sponsoring or distributing the program!

Green Screen

If you’re filming on a green screen, don’t wear ANY shade of green at all. Even blue-green is trouble, as I learned the hard way years ago. When making a recruitment video for NYU, one student wore a blue shirt with a touch of green in it–enough to require a full day of rotoscoping to fix the problem during post-production!

Makeup

Men and women alike should wear light powder to avoid shining under the lights. Do you think tough guy General Colin Powell objected to wearing makeup for this shoot? No, he did not! Ask your producer if a makeup artist will be on set. If not, ask if the crew can bring a powder kit. If they can’t, bring your own! Visit a good makeup shop and ask for some loose powder in your skin tone to minimize shine. Oil blotting paper works well too.

Hair

Arrive with your hair clean. Even if there is a hair and makeup artist onset, they may not have enough time for a major overhaul, so comb your hair just the way you like it beforehand.

Glasses

Glasses often create distracting reflections under TV lights. If possible, wear contacts or just skip the glasses. If that’s not an option, ask for help. An experienced producer will have several tricks, like repositioning the lights, that can minimize the problem.

About Render Perfect Productions:

Render Perfect has been built from the ground up to service growing businesses and help them realize their full visual storytelling and digital marketing potential. We’ve created a service offering and skill-set that spans video production, post-production, motion graphic design, 3D animation, web development, and video marketing strategy. Our insight and experience allow us to help clients make better planning decisions and get more out of their video production effort.