Business casual headshots: what to wear, backgrounds and examples

A business casual headshot is a professional portrait in clothes one step below a suit: a blazer, a cardigan or a fine knit over an open-collar shirt or a plain top, with no tie. It says "competent" and "easy to work with" in the same frame, which is why it suits LinkedIn, company team pages and speaker bios in most industries outside law, banking and the boardroom.

This guide covers what to wear, which colors and backgrounds hold up at thumbnail size, when a suit is still the safer choice, and three examples of where business casual ends.

The short answer

What to wear

A headshot is usually cropped at the chest, so the only clothes anyone sees are your shoulders, your collar and your neckline. Spend your effort there.

The formula is one structured layer over one plain base layer. A blazer, sport coat or cardigan gives your shoulders a clean line, and a plain shirt, blouse or knit underneath keeps the attention on your face. Leave out the structured layer and the photo drifts casual; add a tie and it turns formal.

• Shirts. An Oxford or poplin shirt with the top button undone. Without a jacket, choose a collar that holds its shape, because a soft collar folds flat in a chest-up crop.
• Knitwear. A fine merino or cotton crew neck or V-neck, on its own or over a collared shirt. Chunky knits add bulk at the shoulders.
• Blouses and tops. A structured blouse, a shell top under a blazer, or a plain knit with a crew, boat or modest V neckline. Thin straps vanish in the crop and read as bare shoulders.
• Jackets. An unstructured blazer in wool, cotton or linen, worn open.
• Accessories. Small earrings, a fine chain. Anything large competes with your face once the photo is the size of a thumbnail.

Fit matters more than price. A jacket that pulls at the button or lifts away from the collar shows in every crop, so try the outfit on and take a test photo from the chest up before the day. For outfit ideas in more detail, see what to wear for a headshot and what not to wear.

Colors that work

Solid colors in mid to dark tones photograph best next to the face: navy, charcoal, mid-grey, light blue, burgundy, forest green and beige. They hold up on every screen size and do not compete with your face.

Three things to avoid:

• Small checks, houndstooth and fine stripes. On screens they can shimmer, an effect called moiré, and it gets worse when the photo is shrunk to a thumbnail.
• Matching the background. A white shirt against a white wall, or charcoal against charcoal, makes you blend in. Aim for contrast: a darker top on a light backdrop, or the other way round.
• Logos and slogans. They date the photo and pull the eye away from you.

Backgrounds

The background sets the tone as much as the clothes do. From most to least formal:

1. A plain studio color such as grey, blue or beige. It reads polished, and it is the closest business casual gets to formal.
2. A softly blurred office or co-working space. The most common business casual setting: it says "at work" without showing any detail.
3. A blurred street or building front. More relaxed, and a good fit for creative and client-facing roles that want to look approachable.

Whatever you choose, keep it out of focus. Shelves, screens and signs that can be read compete with your face.

Business casual or a suit?

Dress the way you would for a first meeting with a new client.

These are common norms, not rules. Check what your colleagues, your clients and the people you look up to in your field wear in their own profile photos. If you are unsure, a blazer gives you both: take one photo with it on and one with it off.

Three examples

Business casual in a studio. A grey blazer over an open-collar white shirt, no tie, on a plain blue backdrop. This is as formal as business casual gets, and it works on LinkedIn in almost any industry.

Business casual outdoors. A charcoal blazer over a cream shirt, small hoops and a fine chain, with a blurred street behind. The same formula in a more relaxed setting.

Where business casual ends. A denim jacket over a T-shirt reads casual. It is fine for creative roles and personal brands, and too relaxed for a client-facing role in finance or law.

All three are AI headshots made with BetterPic from each person's own selfies. They come from the style library on our headshots for teams page, where outfits are grouped into Business, Smart Casual and Casual.

How to get a business casual headshot

• With a photographer. Bring a blazer and a plain base layer so you can shoot a formal and a business casual version in one session, and agree on the background in advance. What a headshot costs lists what to ask before you book.
• With your phone. Face a window, put a plain wall a meter or two behind you, hold the camera at eye level and use the timer. The full method is in how to take a professional headshot.
• With AI. Upload your selfies once and pick the outfit and background as part of the style. BetterPic groups its outfits into Business, Smart Casual and Casual, with studio, office and outdoor backgrounds, so one set of selfies can give you both a suit version and a business casual version. AI Studio can change the outfit, background or lighting of a finished headshot afterwards. See AI headshots, or try the free AI headshot generator first.

Getting your hair done for the photo as well? Hairstyles for headshots covers timing a cut, frizz and what changes when the headshot is made with AI.