Fashion workbook offers tips for improving appearance; Your New Image Through Color and Line, by Gerry Pinckney and Marge Swenson. Costa Mesa, Calif.: Fashion Image/Crown Summit Books. $12.95

This book is a self-help guide for women wanting to improve their personal appearance. The authors, fashion consultants Gerry Pinckney and Marge Swenson, have produced an easy-to-read workbook based on what they teach at the Fashion Academy in Costa Mesa, Calif., which they founded in 1972.

Their book is more thorough than similar books dealing with color in fashion. The reader is directed in a logical, but never dull, way to analyze herself in terms of color palette, figure type, personality, and life style. There is instruction on skin care and makeup, hair styling, wardrobe planning, accessorizing, and shopping.

The large 81/2-by-11-inch format and the book's spacious layout give it a sense of utility. Numerous color photographs depict nonprofessional models in the four seasons of color. Additional line drawings illustrate figure and facial proportions, as well as the design of garments and accessories.

Working charts in the wardrobe-planning section invite the reader to get involved. The book also includes many tips on fabrics and alterations.