Clothes for TV

[wyardley]

No... not for me. My brother is a sports broadcaster / journalist who does some TV work (mostly soccer and some football). He's not quite to the point where he has either a stylist or a huge budget to work with.

Wondering if anyone has suggestions of patterns, colors, and fabric types which work well on TV to provide a little visual interest, without being either too distracting, or creating moire patterns or other visual artifacts on camera. Pictures of really well dressed broadcasters would also be interesting (doesn't have to be sports).

Currently, he has a black suit, navy suit, and shirts in various colors (mostly white), and is looking to get a charcoal or medium grey suit at some point as well.

Suggestions for grey suits which are <= $350, fairly lightweight wool, and fit a fairly slim guy (6', ~ 150 lb) well are also welcome. Obviously, around $450-600 there are quite a lot of decent options, but curious if anyone knows of anything good at a lower price point. Doesn't have to be a great suit; just has to "play one on TV".

 

[GBR]

Would It not be better for him to take guidance from those companies for whom he works rather than you or a web board?

Patterns can do peculiar things on television for reasons technical and companies often have their own view as to how people look. He who pays the conmmentator picks the wardrobe

 

[wyardley]

Would It not be better for him to take guidance from those companies for whom he works rather than you or a web board?
Patterns can do peculiar things on television for reasons technical and companies often have their own view as to how people look. He who pays the conmmentator picks the wardrobe

From my understanding, that's not at all how things work at this level. This is not big budget TV. Some of the stuff is web-only (i.e., ESPN3, or by the league's online subscription based service), or else local cable networks, and he's generally paid by the team directly, not by the TV network. From what I can tell, he rarely gets any guidance (beyond very general terms) about what to wear.

Obviously, it would be better if he had professional guidance, but since he doesn't, I thought some folks here might have had experience (in a general sense) with what works or what doesn't. Also, he is freelance, and wardrobe is not provided by the organization that's paying him.

 

[MikeDT]



I have appear on a TV performans before,
My advise is to no wear a white shirt or a small patterns shirt, these look not so good on TV.
Instead, wear a blue shirt.

I think that was always the advice for TV, avoid clothing with small and strong patterns. Because it apparently played hell with the PAL or NTSC colour systems. Herringbone tweed jackets flashing blue and yellow on TV. Probably not so much of a problem these days, because it's all digital.

And if they're doing chromakey or some sort of green screen process, don't wear the same colour as the background, It will go transparent. If the set looks like this...

...try to avoid wearing green.

I've been on TV a few times myself, China Central TV, Beijing TV, Zhejiang TV and Xilin Gol TV. Not in a studio though. Usually solid colours, no tweeds, no plaids, no stripes, and it's been OK IMO.

 

[JayJay]



I have appear on a TV performans before,
My advise is to no wear a white shirt or a small patterns shirt, these look not so good on TV.
Instead, wear a blue shirt.

Same here. I always wear light blue shirt, solid navy suit, and conservative tie for tv, photo opps, videotaping, and the like.

 

[jt10000]

No... not for me. My brother is a sports broadcaster / journalist who does some TV work (mostly soccer and some football). He's not quite to the point where he has either a stylist or a huge budget to work with.

Wondering if anyone has suggestions of patterns, colors, and fabric types which work well on TV to provide a little visual interest, without being either too distracting, or creating moire patterns or other visual artifacts on camera. Pictures of really well dressed broadcasters would also be interesting (doesn't have to be sports).

Currently, he has a black suit, navy suit, and shirts in various colors (mostly white), and is looking to get a charcoal or medium grey suit at some point as well.

Suggestions for grey suits which are <= $350, fairly lightweight wool, and fit a fairly slim guy (6', ~ 150 lb) well are also welcome. Obviously, around $450-600 there are quite a lot of decent options, but curious if anyone knows of anything good at a lower price point. Doesn't have to be a great suit; just has to "play one on TV".

Not offering suggestions on the suit, but in terms of colors and combinations, there's some interesting stuff here: http://dappered.com/tag/shannon-sharpe-wardrobe/

 

[Makoto Chan]

There's good advice on the Put This On blog: How to Dress For TV

 

[wyardley]

Thanks all! Very helpful, especially the link to that blog post. Most of the stuff does seem pretty common sense.

 

[MyOtherLife]

Sit on your jacket tail when you sit. This will give you a better shoulder line.
Do not slouch. Do not chew gum.
Do not jerk your head or roll your eyes.
Do not avert your eyes when spoken to. Only shifty, untrustworthy people avert their eyes.
Do not stare either or you'll come across as some buldgy-eyed hot-head.
Do not talk with your hands. Be a relaxed robot.
When asked a question, count to 2 before responding each time. This will lead people to believe that you are an intelligent and measured speaker as opposed to a loud-mouthed know-it-all.
To prevent 'cotton mouth', have a mild mint to encourage salivation. This will prevent your mouth from going dry on TV.
Swallow naturally but don't swallow the mint. Do not drool whilst salivating.
Do not rattle the mint around in your mouth. You are not rolling dice here.
If laughing, do not thrust your head up in a victory roar or you might accidentally choke on the mint or cough and the mint flies outta your mouth.
Make sure you brush your teeth before going on camera. You don't want to smile and reveal a million poppy seeds and crud stuck between your teeth.
Never use the words, 'I Think' because that will be an opinion and opinions are worthless. Short sentences with facts are better.

Wait.....this is for your brother and he's a Sportcaster? Aww hell that changes everything.
In that case, tell him to do the opposite of everything I typed and also, avoid salmon coloured jackets.



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