General advice for what to wear when appearing on TV/video

[blackjack]

I'm going in for a video session and they've only given me very vague information at best to wear "business clothes". When pressed, they added a preference for a "white dress shirt".

For anyone who has worked in film or TV, do you have any more specific advice?

I'm already leaning toward a darker (navy or charcoal grey) suit.

 

[Jekyll]

No pinstripes. Not that you would anyway.

 

[KObalto]

Here's Carl from Cego's advice. He's provided shirts for a number of film and TV projects.
http://www.styleforum.net/t/293510/house-of-cards-baltimore-casting-call/60#post_5405661

 

[E TF]

I presumed that advice from Carl related specifically to the House of Cards production discussed in that thread.

The main thing to avoid is anything that will "strobe" - like fine stripes or small scale patterns such as houndstooth.

Stripy shirt in this video shows it -

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

 

[KObalto]



I presumed that advice from Carl related specifically to the House of Cards production discussed in that thread.

I took it as general advice, and not specific to the production, although he is doing shirts for them.
Maybe Carl will chime in.

 

[JayJay]

For tv appearances I always wear a solid light blue shirt with a solid navy suit to minimize the contrast between the two colors. White shirts with dark suits tend to create too much contrast. I also wear a burgundy or blue tie. As has been mentioned, pinstripe suits seldom show up well on tv.

 

[KObalto]

^Patterned tie I take it?

 

[blackjack]

Thanks for all the great advice!

Not sure why but I was asked to wear a white dress shirt. Will ask if a light blue shirt is okay. Otherwise a dark navy suit with a subtle window-check. Haven't figured out which tie to go with but leaning toward a dark-ish blue one with low-key patterns. Or, would a light blue one (with a white dress shirt) work too?

 

[MyOtherLife]

In addition to the above suggestions, my advice would be to:
Trim or remove nose amd ear hair if that applies to you.
Trim your eyebrows if they are too shaggy. All media personalities do this, male or female.
Manicure your nails. Clear nail polish will make them look perfect once trimmed.
Sit on your jacket tail. It gives you a better shoulder line when seated.
Don't slouch when seated.
Don't be stiff either but observe your posture.
Avoid talking with your hands, rolling your eyes or exaggerated hand or head gestures. Subtle gestures used sparingly goes a long way.
Have a small candy in your mouth to help prevent 'cotton mouth' but don't chew the candy while on air.
Wait 2 or 3 seconds before responding to a question and respond with ease and confidence.
Never start a sentence with the words 'I think'...' No one cares what you think. What you think is an opinion and opinions never matter.
Stick to facts and if you don't know the answer, say so. Better they say later that 'Jack don't know' than 'Jack lied'.
Or, if you don't know, then spin it back to the interviewer by saying, 'I dont know, what do you think?' Chances are, he don't know either and will quickly move on to something else.
The camera never blinks so be careful if they agitate you.
If the interviwer insults you look at them as though you are in love rather than considering ringing their neck on live TV
If the interviewer cracks a bad joke that isn't funny, pretend they just farted or anything so you can laugh with them..
Have an emergency handkerchief in your inside breast pocket. This way you can mop off flop sweat when they go to commercial break.
Good luck on your appearance and post it on YouTube if you can!

 

[Shirtmaven]

lt blue shirt is much better then white.
or ecru or cream if you want something closer to white.

no even stripes as shown above.
small neat broken up patterns
subtle windowpanes are good.

Not sure how all of this works on HD.

 

[dorolf07]

In addition to the above suggestions, my advice would be to:
Trim or remove nose amd ear hair if that applies to you.
Trim your eyebrows if they are too shaggy. All media personalities do this, male or female.
Manicure your nails. Clear nail polish will make them look perfect once trimmed.
Sit on your jacket tail. It gives you a better shoulder line when seated.
Don't slouch when seated.
Don't be stiff either but observe your posture.
Avoid talking with your hands, rolling your eyes or exaggerated hand or head gestures. Subtle gestures used sparingly goes a long way.
Have a small candy in your mouth to help prevent 'cotton mouth' but don't chew the candy while on air.
Wait 2 or 3 seconds before responding to a question and respond with ease and confidence.
Never start a sentence with the words 'I think'...' No one cares what you think. What you think is an opinion and opinions never matter.
Stick to facts and if you don't know the answer, say so. Better they say later that 'Jack don't know' than 'Jack lied'.
Or, if you don't know, then spin it back to the interviewer by saying, 'I dont know, what do you think?' Chances are, he don't know either and will quickly move on to something else.
The camera never blinks so be careful if they agitate you.
If the interviwer insults you look at them as though you are in love rather than considering ringing their neck on live TV
If the interviewer cracks a bad joke that isn't funny, pretend they just farted or anything so you can laugh with them..
Have an emergency handkerchief in your inside breast pocket. This way you can mop off flop sweat when they go to commercial break.
Good luck on your appearance and post it on YouTube if you can!

I like this one.