What to wear to a portrait session

Every week someone asks me what they should wear, and every week I give roughly the same answer: wear the thing you'd reach for on a good day.

Photographs are unforgiving about discomfort. If you're adjusting a collar, the camera sees it. Clothes you already trust let you forget about yourself, and forgetting about yourself is the entire trick.

A few things that genuinely help. Texture reads better than pattern — linen, knit and denim give the image something to hold onto, where a tight print can shimmer oddly. Mid-tones are kinder than pure white or true black, both of which make a camera work harder than it needs to. And sleeves, more often than not, make people feel more themselves on camera than they expect.

What matters much more than any of this: bring a second option, and bring it on a hanger rather than in a bag. Halfway through, when you've relaxed, you'll know which one you actually want to be wearing.