Headshot Styling Tips from Professional Image Consultant Bette Hillman
I had the pleasure last week of talking with Bette Lord Hillman, a professional Image Consultant based in Orland, Florida. We chatted live on Instagram but unfortunately had some technological trouble so I don’t have a copy of our chat. However, I took lots of notes and I would still love to share some of the information she shared with me!
Many thanks to Bette and if you’d like to reach out to her for a consultation, please let me know and I’ll get you connected!
The most common question I get asked is what should I wear for my headshot? What tips do you have for choosing a clothing style/color/pattern for a standard headshot? For men? For women?
I always love asking professionals questions like these because you get a completely different response than what you’d expect! I was thinking Bette would say, “solid color suit” or “stay away from big stripes” or something of that nature but her response was so much more insightful than that. Bette said to think about your features and think about what you want to communicate in your headshot and look at your clothing as an opportunity to fill that gap. So if you have very strong features but let’s say you’re in a counseling or helping roll and you want to come off softer, maybe you would consider using pastels in your headshot. On the flip side, maybe you’re very petite and have small features but you’re in a dynamic leadership position. Then you might want to go with more structured cuts in burgundy or navy blue to inspire confidence and trust.
Can you talk a little bit about what different colors communicate to people?
Bette is SO passionate about color and considers herself a colorist. She shared a few colors and what they communicate.
Burgundy - trust
Navy - strength
Purple - royalty/power
Black - authority
What are some quick tips you’d give someone booking a photo shoot to help them look and feel their best?
Bette had a few tips about feeling good for photo shoots and just for everyday life! The first thing to think about is to make sure you’re communicating one image. Think about the full picture - your hair, your accessories, your clothing, your shoes. Do they all communicate the same thing? You want to make sure it’s sharing one clear message for the world. So for example, you wouldn’t want to wear a power suit and then beaded dangly earrings as they don’t show the same look. You also wouldn’t pair that power suit with unkempt hair - and if any of you have seen me halfway through a photo shoot, you know that I understand unkempt hair better than anyone!
The other thing Bette talked about was the importance of being YOU. Style and image are deeply personal and at the end of the day they have to reflect who YOU are and who YOU want to share with the world. Consider clothing and accessories just to be helpers in clarifying that communication. We talked about how deeply personal photos can be as well, and I think it was something Bette and I could talk about to better understand one another’s careers. I want to get to know my clients and their businesses and understand exactly what they want to communicate with their audiences. I don’t want to just put them into cookie-cutter poses because that might not be helpful for them. In the same way, Bette wants to get to know her clients, assess their features and then make recommendations from there because it is such a highly personalized service.
Bette is an absolutely WEATLH of knowledge and I definitely recommend getting in touch with her for any and all styling needs!