What Not To Wear On Camera + How To Fix It [Video]

What Not to Wear on Camera, TV, Video, Headshots and Selfies

What Not To Wear On Camera (Includes a very bad example of me!)

Probably the most popular style question I get from entrepreneurs and coaches is what to wear and what not to wear on camera.


It really depended on the camera (phone, still, video, TV), your angle, how you are positioned, and the crop.

One would think that with 15 years of pro stylist experience I would ALWAYS get it right.

One would be kinda sorta close to the truth, sometimes.

Here’s the thing: what looks good in person doesn’t always look good on camera, let alone on video or iPhone.

Watch to see how my outfit goes from looking terrible to looking great, and why.

Now the best way to connect with your tribe is to be as authentic as you can… no splashy fake imagery… no make-believe fantasy shoots.

Just you. The beautiful human being with so much to share.

The super sweet spot is that you probably have exactly the equipment you need with your phone, tablet or web cam.

Set yourself up to attract your most aligned audience… 🎯Join me at AuthenticSuperstar.com. Learn how to present yourself on camera to attract your most profitable audience by simply being you!

Become An Authentic Superstar. The 5-Day Mini Course is Free!

Video Transcription

click to read full transcription

[00:00:00.04]Hello hello my friends,

[00:00:02.00]I thought of you when I
was getting dressed today.

[00:00:05.06]And that’s what we’re gonna talk about,

[00:00:07.03]clothes that look horrible,

[00:00:09.04]lousy, bad, awful, on video and on TV.

[00:00:15.00]And most important, on your phone.

[00:00:18.03]So I’m doing this on my iPhone right now,

[00:00:20.04]and it’s a little more forgiving

[00:00:24.05]than if you were using a real TV camera.

[00:00:28.06]And just for the record,

[00:00:30.02]photos are always more
forgiving than live videos,

[00:00:34.01]particularly in a spot where
you can’t control your light.

[00:00:37.08]But I was getting dressed this morning,

[00:00:39.01]and the sun’s really glaring over here,

[00:00:42.01]so I’m on my selfie-stick,

[00:00:43.07]so excuse me if I’m a little bouncy here.

[00:00:47.00]So I was getting dressed this morning

[00:00:48.06]and it’s kind of a
beautiful day in New York,

[00:00:52.06]it sort of doesn’t know what
season it wants to be in,

[00:00:55.01]so when I was shufflin’ through my rack

[00:00:57.04]I found this top,

[00:00:59.03]which, you see it?

[00:01:03.06]It’s a couple years old

[00:01:05.03]and I haven’t worn it in a couple of years

[00:01:08.03]because the last time I wore it,

[00:01:11.05]I wore it on TV

[00:01:13.00]and I looked like a
friggin’ whale-and-a-half.

[00:01:16.06]I look so huge in this top

[00:01:20.00]that it scared the hell out of me,

[00:01:21.09]and I never wore it again.

[00:01:23.07]And I’ll tell you why.

[00:01:25.05]One of the reasons is sometimes
when you have a TV call,

[00:01:28.09]at the last minute you get these things,

[00:01:32.05]what not to wear,

[00:01:34.04]no black, 95% of my wardrobe is black,

[00:01:38.03]no off-white or white.

[00:01:41.08]Good chunk of it’s that.

[00:01:43.02]No red.

[00:01:45.01]Girlfriend, red’s my favorite color.

[00:01:47.07]I wear red a lot.

[00:01:50.07]And then it gives you the list
of the colors you can wear,

[00:01:53.03]and I’m like [makes sad noises].

[00:01:56.07]Or as a TV producer once said to me,

[00:01:59.02]once you get your call
with what you can’t wear,

[00:02:02.07]you just sucked all the living daylights

[00:02:04.09]of style outta your life.

[00:02:06.07]So that’s true, a lot of it
is because of green-screen.

[00:02:10.09]I find when I used to
do more TV and stuff,

[00:02:13.06]especially way back when,

[00:02:15.00]when I was a stylist,

[00:02:15.09]so I should know better, right?

[00:02:16.09]I did photo shoots for 15 years.

[00:02:21.06]Smaller channels, smaller stations,

[00:02:24.03]smaller photographers, they’re
a little more specific.

[00:02:28.05]I mean, if you look, for years,

[00:02:30.05]at late night talk shows,

[00:02:32.02]you’ll see guests wearing
black all the time, right?

[00:02:36.04]They wear black, I wear black,

[00:02:37.07]people wear black, it’s black on TV.

[00:02:39.07]But when you start doing
all the smaller stuff,

[00:02:42.04]they got this pension for,

[00:02:43.07]like, torturing you with stupid colors.

[00:02:46.04]So anyway, I got this last minute call

[00:02:49.09]and I had nothing to wear,

[00:02:51.06]and I was running around.

[00:02:53.02]It was one of those weeks’ when,

[00:02:54.04]like, the stores didn’t
get the next season,

[00:02:56.05]and the last season was already reduced,

[00:02:58.06]and like, what am I going to do?

[00:03:00.08]So I found this top,

[00:03:02.04]because it met all the
criteria of what to wear,

[00:03:06.07]but it has these, I know,

[00:03:10.02]it has these big sleeves.

[00:03:12.04]So, I don’t know how to do this.

[00:03:13.09]So I’m straight, I’m in my den,

[00:03:16.07]so I’m straight to the camera,

[00:03:18.02]you see, I can’t even fit head on,

[00:03:20.04]these sleeves in here.

[00:03:21.07]You see?

[00:03:22.06]They’re monstrous.

[00:03:24.01]But I’m also tilting the iPhone up,

[00:03:26.09]it’s a little more flattering, right?

[00:03:28.07]So if I was to wear something like this,

[00:03:30.09]and, I mean, I had to wear it,

[00:03:32.06]I didn’t have a choice, right?

[00:03:33.07]I had to wear it,

[00:03:34.06]I didn’t have anything
else in those colors.

[00:03:35.09]But you see when I’m kind of
sitting off center to you,

[00:03:38.06]and I’m kind of angled,

[00:03:40.06]that these big monstrosity
sleeves look kind of cool, right?

[00:03:44.02]They look kind of chic.

[00:03:45.04]And that’s point of all of this.

[00:03:47.00]When you are doing your own photos,

[00:03:49.07]and when you’re doing your own videos,

[00:03:52.09]you can have more
leverage on what to wear,

[00:03:55.08]and what not to wear,

[00:03:57.00]for the simple reason that I
know not to be sitting here

[00:04:01.00]like a literal talking head, right?

[00:04:04.06]Imagine too if I took this necklace,

[00:04:06.02]which brings your eye down

[00:04:07.08]and makes a little length,

[00:04:09.03]but if I took this necklace away,

[00:04:10.09]let’s see how far I could go.

[00:04:12.04]It’s pretty boring, right?

[00:04:14.05]And if it was a TV camera
that adds 10 pounds,

[00:04:17.04]it would be even more linebacker.

[00:04:18.09]But if I do it like this, it’s kinda cool.

[00:04:21.05]So that’s the thing.

[00:04:22.03]So when you’re doing your own photos,

[00:04:23.02]or you’re doing your own videos,

[00:04:25.05]for the most part, simplicity is better.

[00:04:28.06]I don’t want to say less is more,

[00:04:30.06]’cause, you know, sometimes
I like to pile it on too.

[00:04:33.05]But I, overall, if you
had to make a quasi-rule,

[00:04:38.01]simplicity is usually better.

[00:04:40.00]Anything that draws the line down,

[00:04:44.00]makes it longer, like again,

[00:04:45.03]this necklace will bring the eye down,

[00:04:47.08]where if it was like that,

[00:04:49.00]it’s not the most flattering, right?

[00:04:51.03]And then if you have something that has,

[00:04:53.05]like, extra wide shoulders,

[00:04:55.04]or big sleeves or something like that.

[00:04:58.04]And you’re in a seated
environment like this,

[00:05:01.00]if you’re doing it on the street,

[00:05:03.00]it’s not so easy with the wind blowing

[00:05:04.06]and gettin’ the right spot,

[00:05:06.00]but you’re doing it something like this.

[00:05:08.01]You can also use your
body to help move you

[00:05:11.07]into the shot to make it
more interesting, right?

[00:05:16.04]So when you’re doing photos,

[00:05:18.05]it’s so much more flattering, people.

[00:05:21.07]It’s, like, so much easier
on your phone than videos,

[00:05:24.00]that really like to show
up the extra wrinkles

[00:05:26.02]that you don’t even have in real life.

[00:05:28.00]I got this press release
the other day in my e-mail,

[00:05:31.09]and it said that in
Generation Y and Boomers,

[00:05:36.04]they are having the biggest
increase in facelift,

[00:05:40.08]I didn’t even know people did
facelifts that much anymore,

[00:05:43.00]because they’re looking
at their turkey neck,

[00:05:45.09]hello, I got one over here,

[00:05:47.09]on an iPhone, and it looks so bad

[00:05:51.01]that they’re freaked out,

[00:05:52.01]and it’s increased the
plastic surgery rate.

[00:05:55.08]But you know, you can get around it too

[00:05:57.07]by holding your phone.

[00:06:01.03]My turkey neck is better, right?

[00:06:03.03]So it’s also the way you
hold yourself in photos,

[00:06:05.09]it’s the way you hold yourself on camera,

[00:06:07.07]and what you wear really
should not take away from you,

[00:06:12.06]and it shouldn’t like overly styled.

[00:06:15.05]I know a lot of people,

[00:06:17.01]like for me, I like a messier
undone look, an unfussy look.

[00:06:20.09]I’m more like real french girl in that way

[00:06:23.03]where I like things to be slightly undone.

[00:06:26.09]I don’t like anything to look
somebody spent hours on me.

[00:06:30.02]I know a lot of people seem to think

[00:06:32.05]that, like, french chic means,

[00:06:34.00]like, heavy bridal hair,

[00:06:35.03]and heavy makeup and tons of accessories,

[00:06:37.02]and really being done,

[00:06:38.09]but it’s not like that a all in real life.

[00:06:41.08]Usually it’s like if your outfit’s busy,

[00:06:44.01]your hair is undone.

[00:06:45.07]If your hair or your makeup,

[00:06:47.07]or, manage, or, not hair
fancy and makeup fancy,

[00:06:50.04]one or the other,

[00:06:51.03]if one of them is big,

[00:06:52.06]then usually you’re wearing
more casual clothes.

[00:06:54.07]So if you’re wearing ripped jeans,

[00:06:56.01]you might wear, like, red bright lipstick

[00:06:58.05]and a pair of sexy pumps,

[00:07:00.02]’cause it’s sort of the yin and yang

[00:07:01.08]of the ripped jeans, right?

[00:07:03.04]As opposed to wearing heavy,

[00:07:05.08]you know, done hair and pink lips,

[00:07:08.04]and lots of makeup,

[00:07:09.06]and stiletto shoes and
a real done up dress.

[00:07:12.07]It’s just, like, too many things.

[00:07:14.00]It’s not chic, it’s just not real chic.

[00:07:17.01]It’s just lookin’ like you tried too hard.

[00:07:19.04]So that’s better for you, right,

[00:07:21.02]’cause then when you’re getting dressed,

[00:07:23.02]you don’t have to think
that you have to lay on

[00:07:25.09]all this stuff that you don’t need.

[00:07:28.01]You can pick a couple of main pieces,

[00:07:30.01]make it simple, and, you know,

[00:07:31.08]use colors that are
flattering to your face,

[00:07:36.02]don’t be afraid of wearing neutrals,

[00:07:38.00]neutrals are more chic.

[00:07:39.01]The videos will probably last longer,

[00:07:41.06]the photos will probably last longer,

[00:07:44.05]if you’re not wearing something

[00:07:45.08]that is so specific to a season,

[00:07:49.00]like a big trend.

[00:07:52.00]But the thing is,

[00:07:52.08]if you’re doing something
with your phone, right,

[00:07:55.04]it’s, like, disposable, you
don’t have to worry about it.

[00:07:58.06]There’s no stress, there’s no exhaustion,

[00:08:01.01]and what you have to plan to
wear for this big photo shoot.

[00:08:04.00]If you’re doing it at home,

[00:08:05.00]you just go change your outfit, right?

[00:08:06.08]It’s, like, that simple.

[00:08:08.01]You could pick up the phone,

[00:08:09.01]once you know the techniques,

[00:08:10.08]once you know how to set
yourself up on camera,

[00:08:13.01]once you understand the composition,

[00:08:15.02]once you understand what
message you’re trying to convey,

[00:08:18.07]the authentic visual
storytelling of who you are,

[00:08:22.00]and what you want to say to people,

[00:08:23.07]’cause, you know, online people
make assumptions about you,

[00:08:26.08]and one-tenth, one-tenth of one second,

[00:08:30.07]that’s how fast it is,

[00:08:31.06]swipe right, swipe left, that’s it.

[00:08:33.03]There’s no time to judge.

[00:08:34.07]So you don’t want to come
showing up lookin’ like,

[00:08:36.05]you know, a hot mess all the time,

[00:08:38.06]and you don’t want to look so overdone

[00:08:40.03]and insane all the time either.

[00:08:42.04]So anyway, once you know how to put

[00:08:44.04]things together that way,

[00:08:45.08]it just makes going on camera,

[00:08:47.09]doing photos, so much easier.

[00:08:50.01]And the best part,

[00:08:51.01]it is much more effective
than hiring someone

[00:08:54.00]to do it for you,

[00:08:55.00]because it’s real, right?

[00:08:57.01]Because it’s totally real

[00:08:58.07]and people relate to real people.

[00:09:00.08]They don’t relate to
that overly zhuzhed up,

[00:09:03.05]set stuff, they don’t relate to fake sets,

[00:09:06.04]they relate to real people

[00:09:08.05]who can sometimes make
mistakes here and there.

[00:09:11.00]Of course they’re real, right?

[00:09:12.08]So if you want to learn how to do it,

[00:09:14.02]I really encourage you to go over

[00:09:15.08]to authenticsuperstar.com right now.

[00:09:19.01]I waived the $497 fee for my program,

[00:09:23.03]it’s a five day challenge.

[00:09:25.03]You can get in totally free right now,

[00:09:27.05]authenticsuperstar.com.

[00:09:29.01]I’ll give you everything
you need to set you up

[00:09:31.05]to know how to intuitively
look great on camera,

[00:09:35.01]and not make big mistakes.

[00:09:37.02]And just remember, this
doesn’t look so bad

[00:09:39.05]on a video, right?

[00:09:40.08]It doesn’t look so bad in photos.

[00:09:41.09]It looked terrible on TV.

[00:09:44.03]It’s not always the same.

[00:09:45.09]Anyways, that’s it folks,

[00:09:47.02]see you over at authenticsuperstar.com,

[00:09:49.08]and MUAH!

[00:09:51.03][crowd cheering]

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