In this series, I wanted to showcase the amazing women I recently worked with in a mini-styling and photoshoot session I co-hosted with Cemanthe McKenzie, a photographer in London. We worked together to help women in business use styling, colour, and professional headshots for their companies.
Today I am sharing how I helped Wendy Johnstone with our corporate styling and colour sessions. Wendy is a virtual operations manager who works from home and sometimes visits clients at their offices. When she meets with clients, or attends networking events, she said she liked to wear smart/casual attire, but still remain comfortable.
We spoke about the message she wanted to portray through her business photos, and she said she wanted to be approachable, supportive, professional, warm and confident. She mentioned “I do tend to feel a little lost with what looks good both style and colour. My safe colour is black, though I know this may not be the best option for me”.
What I suggested:
Prior to the session, I had a look through each of the women’s business websites, and shared suggestions for their upcoming photoshoot and make-up session, for Wendy, I looked at her green and white logo which gave me inspiration for assistance with her business headshots. I thought a white shirt and colourful necklace would be the best option for Wendy, as she wanted to look professional but not too formal. A classic white shirt is professional, indeed, and wearing it with a necklace would make it more casual and less formal. Also, it would match her logo and if she thought her professional picture will appear close to her logo, on her social media and website, it'd be important to create a harmony between colours.
I looked deeper into the colours and with white being a neutral colour, which expresses approachability, it is also pure, and It creates a sense of order and efficiency, which reflects the basics of her work. It could be a warmer shade, like ivory or creamy white.
The addition of a colourful necklace, in the autumn warm colours she likes to wear, would add the "confidence" look she was searching for, and also the warmth detail that is missing in a white shirt.
She sent pics of a creamy blouse that I thought would be perfect, then she asked to wear something on top to cover her arms, and we agreed on a beige/brown blazer to ensure her comfort. As for the necklace, I suggested to buy one from Oliver Bonas, which she wore in the final shot.
Obviously, when she arrived she was wearing black (as this is her safe colour, like she explained) and we took a photo of her before in black, and after, wearing what I suggested.
I love seeing the before and after looks, and you can see how the photographer’s placement makes a huge difference too!
When you run your own business, you want to be able to showcase your personal brand to your clients in the right way, and styling within your business photos is essential to the final look. I loved being able to help Wendy during this mini-corporate styling session and love the look of her final photo, what do you think?
