Camera & setup
What to Wear on a Video Call (Colors, Patterns and Glasses)
What to wear on a video call: a solid top in a medium tone that stands out a little from your wall, such as blue, teal, green, burgundy or soft gray. Skip tight stripes, small checks, pure white, deep black and anything shiny, because webcams handle all of those badly.
For a casual random video chat, comfort matters as much as looking camera-ready. You don't need to dress up; you just want clothes that help the camera show your face clearly. Here's what works, what fights the camera, and a quick way to check before you start.
Best colors for video calls
A webcam sets its exposure for the whole picture. Very bright or very dark clothing pulls that setting away from your face, while medium tones keep your face looking natural.
| Color | On camera | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Blues and teals | Reliable on most skin tones | Blending into a blue wall |
| Greens (forest, sage, olive) | Calm and rich | Matching a green wall or plants |
| Burgundy, plum, rust | Warm and flattering | Nothing much |
| Soft gray or heather | Neutral, easy | Disappearing against gray walls |
| Pastels | Fine in good light | Washing out in a dim room |
| Pure white | Glows; can make your face look dim | Strong window light |
| Pure black | Loses detail; can make the camera overbrighten your face | A dark room |
| Neon or very bright red | Can bleed and look blotchy | Compressed, low-light video |
Love white or black? Layer it. A white T-shirt under a mid-tone overshirt, or a black top in a well-lit room, usually looks fine.
Patterns and fabrics that fight the camera
- Tight stripes, small checks, houndstooth and herringbone. These cause moiré: a shimmering, wavy effect when the pattern clashes with the camera's pixel grid. It gets worse when you move.
- Busy small prints. Video compression smears fine detail, so they turn blocky and distracting.
- Shiny fabrics, sequins and metallics. They throw bright spots of glare back at the camera.
- Large text and logos. They pull attention from your face, and they read backward in your own preview, which can be confusing. Here's why your front camera is mirrored.
- Very dark hoodies in a dark room. You lose your outline and your face floats.
Bigger, simple patterns and textured knits are usually fine. If a pattern looks calm in your preview while you move around, it'll look calm to the other person too.
Contrast: pick a top that stands out from your wall
The camera needs some separation between you and what's behind you. Without it, your shoulders melt into the background and the picture looks flat.
- Light wall: choose a mid-tone or darker top.
- Dark wall or a bookshelf: choose a lighter top.
- Busy background: keep your top plain.
- Same color as your skin: pick something a shade or two different so your neckline is visible.
Quick test: open your camera preview and squint at it. If your shoulders disappear into the wall, change your top or what's behind you.
For the background half of that equation, see video call background ideas.
Glasses, jewelry and hats
Glasses glare
At night, the most common glare is your own screen reflected in your lenses. Lower the screen brightness a little, raise the camera slightly, and tilt your glasses down a touch by lifting the arms off your ears. Move any lamp higher or off to one side so its reflection falls out of view. Anti-reflective coatings help if you're getting new lenses anyway.
Jewelry
Dangling earrings can brush a headset and rustle in your audio, and bracelets clink on the desk right next to the microphone. Shiny pieces can sparkle on camera. Simple pieces you won't fiddle with are the safest choice.
Hats and hoods
A cap brim or a hood shades your eyes, and eyes are what people look at most. Push the brim up, turn the cap around, or face your light more directly.
What to wear on camera for a casual random chat
Random video chat is casual. A clean T-shirt, sweater or hoodie in a solid color is completely fine. A few things make a real difference, though:
- The camera sees your head and shoulders, so your neckline and shoulders do most of the work. Choose a top that sits neatly there.
- Assume more than that might show. If you stand up, adjust the phone or lean back, the frame changes. A propped-up phone often shows more of you than a laptop; see how to prop up your phone for video calls.
- Keep identifying details out of frame: a work uniform with your employer's name, an ID badge on a lanyard, or a jersey printed with your name.
- Dress as you would to answer the front door. Omlet's rules don't allow nudity or sexual content, and an on-device check hides it from the other person.
Check your outfit in the preview before you start
Omlet shows your own camera preview before you press Start, which makes this a 30-second job:
- Look at your top against the wall. Can you see a clear outline?
- Move side to side. Does any pattern shimmer or crawl?
- Check your face. Is it bright and natural, or dimmed by a white top or washed out by a black one?
- Check your glasses for glare and your hat brim for shadows.
- Fix one thing at a time until it looks right.
Clothes are one piece of the picture. For light, angle and distance, see how to look good on webcam, and for the first few seconds of a chat, how to make a good first impression on video. Then start a random video chat.