What to Wear on Camera
Technical Information
CORE staff and faculty frequently wonder what to wear when they are going to be part of a video session or interviewed for television.
General
- Avoid clothes with large areas of black or white, such as white shirt without a jacket, white lab coat, black suit jacket, etc. Instead, charcoal, gray, brown, or similar colored jacket with a pastel (blue) shirt.
- Also avoid clothes with large areas of red or similar highly saturated colors.
- Wear pastels, earth tones, blues, greens, taupe, and ivory.
- No hounds tooth, small checks, fine stripes, or other fine patterns. These patterns can cause moiré patterns (seem to "crawl" or "move" because of interaction with the video scan lines).
- Avoid clothing with large patterns or geometric shapes that will draw attention to the clothes rather than the person.
- Typically a lavaliere microphone will be used, so clothing should afford a place to clip a lavaliere microphone. Ideally, clothing will have a lapel, button-up shirt, or collar to clip the microphone. Due to the placement and sensitivity of the lavaliere microphone, avoid wearing a noisy necklace or one that may come in contact with the microphone.
- It’s hard to place the mic well on a turtleneck. Some type of scarf might help here.
- For physicians, if you will be wearing a lab coat, avoid wearing a black or white shirt underneath and no hound’s-tooth or other fine patterns. Opt for pastels and earth tones in your shirt selection.
Men
- Shave as close as possible unless the "unshaved" look is desirable.
- Make-up is generally not necessary. However, powder may be used by television production personnel to remove shine from the forehead and other reflective areas.
Women
- Normal make-up is appropriate. Don’t overdo it and avoid putting it on under fluorescent lighting. Powder may be used by television production personnel to remove shine from the forehead and other reflective areas.
- Jewelry at a minimum. Avoid sparkly items, large earrings, and necklaces that will draw the audience attention or might reflect lights into the camera.
- Large necklaces can rub against a lavaliere microphone.
- For clothing, pastels and earth tones always work well.