How ready are you for fashion school?  In addition to the basic items every class will require, do you have a look book?  Do you even know what one is?  Here are some tips for creating a fashion styling course look book.
A look book is basically a collection of tear sheets, swatches and photographs.  This book is the first step to defining your signature style.  This is what you want to hand Nina Garcia and Michael Kors on the runway.  It answers the question: "Who are you as a stylist?"
While training to be an Image or Fashion Stylist, it's never too soon to begin building this personal collection of visuals.  All you need is a binder with plastic inserts into which you can slip things.  Make sure the pages are not adhesive as you want to be able to add and subtract inspiration with ease.
Section your book into three categories:  Everybody Else, Me Me Me, and Strike A Match.  You'll be filling these sections with everything and anything you come across that stimulates you visually.  You're looking for elements that make you salivate; creatively speaking
Everybody Else
What does everybody else think is hot today?  Look through magazines and pay attention to current trends that are influencing the major designers.  This can be anything from color palettes, to fabric combinations, to tailoring.
If it seems like everybody has a Capri pant in their summer collection, tear pictures from magazines that demonstrate this fad.  If you notice that every supermodel on every cover is wearing that same shade of cobalt blue, tear a sample page and save it.
Do you see the same insane knit pattern everywhere?  Find out what it's called and try to get a sample of the fabric.  If you're traveling and you observe trends specific to certain locations, definitely take note.  All of this information will be helpful in your fashion styling course.
Me Me Me
If you're entering this field, you probably have exceptional personal style, and your point of view is just as important as that of current designers.  Every thought or concept that tickles your imagination is important.
This section will most likely be a jumble of ideas, sometimes scribbled on cocktail napkins, and that's okay.  It doesn't have to be pretty or organized.  It just needs to capture and safeguard your creative genius.
Say you happen to be getting ready to go out, and you've accidentally matched up the outfit of the century.  This is a moment that must be recorded.  Take a picture and memorialize what worked well.
If you do this consistently, you'll soon discover that you naturally gravitate towards certain combinations.  That's your signature look!
If you're hanging out and you get a vision of a white jeans paired with a mesh leotard, write down your idea.  If you're out shopping and you see a shirt dress, which would work better with some indefinable "itness," value that inkling.
Don't be selective, catalog every notion, every crazy and goofy rambling.  You never know which one will result in sheer brilliance.
Strike a Match
In your fashion styling course, one important fact will be highlighted.  The best designers are those who've successfully matched current trends with their own signature look.  It's what the public wants, but your spin on it elevates it to couture status.
In this final section of your look book, mix and match theories and concepts from the first two sections.  Be open to unlikely combinations and magic will happen!