For now, we turn our attention to the many fashion communities out there. Everyone uses Facebook, some people are still using MySpace, and Twitter has found more than its share of fashion followers. But even though MySpace has 580,000 fashion “friends” and Facebook counts 790,000 people in the US who are interested in fashion, chances are that most of those people aren’t there specifically to talk style. Here are a few places where they are.

Social Shopping

Who do you shop around with?

• Kaboodle
• StyleFeeder
• ShopStyle
• Osoyou
• Etsy
• Couture Society
• Sense of Fashion

For independent designers, Etsy has long been the go-to marketplace. eBay may have a more massive audience, but the 5-year old Brooklyn based company has a seriously dedicated community of crafters who enjoy the simpler (and lower) fee structure. Not to mention a tongue-in-cheek blog poking fun at some of the more questionable content that’s spawned a book. When you’re able to support not only your own site, but provide a foundation for others, you’re doing something right.

ShopStyle, StyleFeeder, Kaboodle and Osoyou in the UK are all driven by product search engines, but they each have communities to help point users to fashion finds they may have missed in a standard search. What else to they have in common? With the exception of Osoyou, multi-million dollar acquisitions by media companies. In the case of ShopStyle, it’s blog behemoth Sugar Inc., StyleFeeder was recently sold to Time Inc. and Kaboodle went to Hearst in 2007 for $30 million. Couture Society, which launched in 2009, is the new kid on the block and has yet to gain a significant audience.

Sense of Fashion is shopping focused but incorporates a little bit of everything with a marketplace, outside product bookmarks and personal style photos.

Personal and Street Style

• Lookbook
• Style Diary
• Trendmill
• StyleMob
• Weardrobe
• Fashism
• FashionFreax.net

When it comes to personal style communities, Lookbook is the biggest of the bunch, but it hasn’t stopped other sites from taking their best shot at organizing the thousands of personal style sharers out there. Style Diary, which was acquired by the recently acquired StyleHive (keeping up here? Good), is one of the first personal style communities, and a place where you can still find older photos of influential fashion favorites like Susie Bubble.

Weardrobe publishes user photos in more of a blog style, similar to Lookbook, and was recently picked up by shopping search engine Like.com. Trendmill has a revamped focus on community contributed street style photos.

Stylemob and Fashism throw voting into the mix for users to not on share their style, but get feedback. Though Stylemob was acquired by Glam in 2007, it seems the team’s efforts have been shifted to Glam activities – most user submitted photos and comments are still from 2007. Though Fashism is still new (they launched in September 2009), there’s a fairly active community posing style questions on a regular basis.

And the unexpected style star? Fashion Freax, which blends runway photos in with user submitted pics. The German website may not be as familiar to English speaking audiences as some of the other personal style communities. But with plenty of participation and English, Portuguese, French, Spanish and – of course, German user interfaces it’s in a good position to be a truly international resource for style watchers.

Fashion Networking & Discussion

• Fashionising
• IQONS
• Nineteen74
• Ykone
• the Fashion Spot Forums
• 2threads

If you’re not a fashion exhbitionist, and you’ve already decided how to blow your shopping budget, fear not: there are still plenty of communities where you can connect with other fashion followers to discuss which new face stood out most on the runways, or which magazine made your month.

Australian based Fashionising got its name from a combination of fashion and socializing, and has built a very respectable worldwide audience from their combination of community profiles, forums and a frequently updated blog maintained by the site owners. Fellow Aussies, 2threads, started as a newsletter in 2005 and launched a formal community in 2009. While Fashionising is the bigger site of the two, 2threads has added seems to have regularly updated community content and should get a push from more prominently highlighted marketplace sections.

Forums, one of the oldest versions of communities, may not get the media attention of social networks these days, but the Fashion Spot proves that they’re still a very viable form of social media. The invite only forums play host to discussions about models, magazines and many other things in between that can get thousands of replies.

In search of more professional social digs? IQONS and Nineteen74 are two networks offering creative professionals an opportunity to showcase their work and find people to collaborate with based around portfolios rather than shopping preferences.
(Disclosure: prior to starting Signature9 I was director of marketing and business development for IQONS)

Fashion Layout and Styling

• Polyvore
• Looklet
• Couturious
• Closet Couture
• Shmotter
• Schway
• Fashion Mash
• Avenue7

For those looking to let their inner art director loose, these are the sites that make it possible without the years of Photoshop experience. Polyvore, by far the most popular of the fashion layout tool sites, lets users mix products with their own backgrounds and images with regular competitions with major brands. Shmotter offers a similar experience, but may need to find a point of differentiation to grow beyond a Polyvore back-up.

The other sites, while not as large, have their own individual flavors. Fashion Mash and Avenue7, with large-eyed avatars and candy colored layouts respectively seem geared towards more of a teen crowd.

Closet Couture and Schway are focused more on a virtual fitting room experience. While Schway started with various UK retail partners and good pre-launch buzz, it’s challenging to actually see other users’ looks which may be a contributing factor to the lack of growth. Closet Couture, which launched as a site to connect users with professional stylists who would help connect new items with the things already in a user’s closet, has shifted to a more community centered styling model. The move was apparently the right one: there’s a current competition with Jimmy Choo, and past contests have had luxurious rewards like an Hermes Birkin bag.

Finally there are the sites that let you go beyond simple layouts to full on editorial shoots. Incredibly addictive, Looklet is a Swedish-based site that lets users choose models and scenery for backgrounds in addition to the actual clothes that appear. When Like.com launched Couturious, many people who’d tried Looklet noticed the striking similarities. The biggest difference is probably commercial intent. While Looklet seems to exist purely for the pleasure of pulling a virtual shoot together, Couturious hopes the DIY editorials will encourage users to buy the items they’ve worked with.

Fashion Bookmarking

• Stylehive
• This Next
• NotCouture
• Open Fashion

Acquired in February, Stylehive was once one of the style bookmarking challengers to acquiring website ThisNext. While there’s probably not 100% crossover – ThisNext includes home design objects in addition to fashion, the pairing makes sense.

While Stylehive and ThisNext bring shopping and recommendations into the process, NotCouture keeps things comparatively simple with editorially selected submissions featured on the front page, and little else. Users can submit and heart items, but otherwise the focus is on cool products rather than cool people.

OpenFashion focuses on polls comparing bookmarked items, but seems to still be in search of something that compels people to come back.

Deathwatch

• Her Fab Life

We began to include Her Fab Life in the list of bookmarking sites, but a look at the front page shows that the upstart community has devolved into a place to list… well, almost anything not even remotely related to fashion. While the site is still around, it may only be a matter of time before the owners decide to stop paying the hosting bill and let it go.

Deadpooled

• Share Your Look
• My Style Post
• Style Du Jour
• Fashionspace
• You Style Me
• Our Threads

While there are many fashion communities actively going for their share of the online style pie, some never grew to a sustainable level or caught the attention of larger companies. Share Your Look and My Style Post were Style Diary competitors that didn’t gain a significant following. Style du Jour had a model similar to Closet Couture. Fashionspace was a UK-based community similar to 2threads in the combination of networking with a marketplace. You Style Me was similar to Fashism and Style Mob for the ability to vote on different user-submitted looks. Our Threads attempted to tap into the independent seller market, but offered the ability for users to swap clothes.

Jazzi McG

Intern extraordinaire, Jazzi McGilbert’s resume includes time at Teen Vogue, Vogue, Variety and Fashionista, and interests run the creative gamut from writer to stylist. The blog once looked like an explosion from the pages of French Vogue (and we mean that in the best way), but has more recently adopted a more understated template that we love just as much for putting more of the spotlight on the personal style and inspiration photos of Ms. McG.

Shini Park, photo via Park & Cube

Park & Cube

Recently voted Best Fashion Blog by readers of the UK women’s site handbag.com, Shini Park offers an eclectic mix of personal style and inspirations photos and addictive do-it-yourself projects with detailed instructions.

The Glamourai

The type of costume jewelry you hope to find on a vintage expedition (or a successful Etsy run), do-it-yourself projects and personal style photos make it difficult to stop reading. With upwards of 40 comments on most posts, it seems there are lots of people who agree. And if the jewelry and outfits don’t get you, we dare you to look at the blog owner’s adorable new puppy and not want to come back.

The Streethearts

You can count on the Sartorialist and several other bloggers to turn up photos of interesting style in fashion capitals like New York, Paris and Milan, but there’s an entire street style world out there. While Paris and London pop up fairly often, the Streethearts also keeps readers up to date with what people are wearing in less covered locales like Oslo, Reykjavik and Copenhagen, complete with brand information and posts sortable by clothing item.

Swagger Paris

What do you get when you combine youth focused Paris street style with coverage of the underground music and fashion icons who influence them? Swagger Paris. Sian-Pierre Regis, the founder and a former BET producer, covers a side of Parisian fashion that’s not seen on many other blogs.

Free Fashion Internships

As the name implies, this blog is all about fashion internships. While it may never gain a mass following, Carla Isabel Carstens’ has created the go-to destination for those looking to gain experience in fashion. This is where the fashion influencers of tomorrow turn to get updates on opportunities to intern for everyone from Gucci and Zac Posen to Vogue and yes, Signature9. Carstens, who now works in fashion PR has separated listings and expanded the blog to  more general fashion coverage and advice on internships.

Nerd Boyfriend

Taking inspiration from mostly vintage photos, this is the site for guys (and the girls who love them) who always preferred Clark Kent anyway. Revenge of the nerds indeed.

Cris Guerra of Hoje Vou Assim

Hoje Vou Assim

Portuguese for “So Today, I…” Hoje Vou Assim is the daily style diary of Cris Guerra. Photographed every day at the entrance of the advertising agency where she works, Guerra is one of Brazil’s most recognizable bloggers. First recognized for the writing on a separate blog documenting the loss of her partner months before the birth of their first child, Guerra’s prose was turned into a book that sold more than 6 million copies. Presently Guerra is recognized equally for her outfits which run the gamut from beach ready to casual cool, and has been a model for various brands and social causes.

Dia de Beaute

This celeb heavy, beauty focused blog covers red carpet and magazine makeup looks from Hollywood to French Vogue and everywhere in between. Each multi-celeb post averages over 50 comments from Brazilian and Portuguese speaking beauty addicts looking to talk about their favorites.

Joshua Kiss (L and far R) and Travis Gumbs of Street Etiquette

Street Etiquette

If every girl’s crazy about a sharp dressed man, Joshua Kissi and Travis Gumbs should run the asylum. At once classic and modern, Street Etiquette falls somewhere between Nerd Boyfriend and the Sartorialist  – if he were to stake out the Bronx and focus on its two most fashionable residents. Our only complaint is that we don’t see more posts more often, but we’ll respect etiquette and patiently check back for updates.

El Fashionista

Barcelona based blogger, Mercedes, doesn’t insert many photos of herself, but colorful illustrations make the products and trends personal. While there are some things you’ll have seen in other places, the mix of designers and items featured still seemed truly original even after reviewing more than 400 blogs.

Cool Outfit

All about the outfit (and accessories), the shopping selections at this Austrian blog can be a bit kitsch, but we have to say that after nearly every one,  “cool outfit” is definitely the phrase that would come to mind.

Coute Que Coute

We’ll admit: despite the advances in technology and the many different types of style blogs, nothing matches flipping through a glossy and enjoying a well edited selection of clothes. That’s our statement, we’re sticking to it, but we have to say Coute Que Coute comes close. You won’t find breaking news on H&M collaborations or model musings here, but you will find a well curated selection of editorials from magazines not at your local Barnes & Noble, ad campaigns and striking products.

Coco Perez

We’ll admit it – when Perez launched his fashion blog we were firmly in the “not sure about this” camp. While it’s not the first fashion blog in our feed reader, we have to give credit where due. The first blog to pick up on the adorable Lady Gaga dolls created by Flickr user Veik11, Perez (or whoever is writing the blog) is increasingly becoming a decent source for interesting fashion finds. With awards season kicking off, we know they’ll certainly have the red carpet fashion commentary covered.

One of Mariah Bernardes' makeup guides

Blog da Mariah

Covering a little bit of everything, Mariah Bernardes walks readers through makeup guides, her favorite shopping finds and personal inspiration photos. The combination isn’t unique in and of itself, but each post gets the type of response that indicates plenty of fans who enjoy the way Mariah brings everything together.

Fashionising Blog

On its own, the Fashionising blog may not make the top 99, but the Australian based site is also home to active forums and a number of member model, photographer and stylist portfolios that likely supplement the audience visiting for news and trend information about all things fashion.

Style Kingdom

We love nothing more than discovering a blog showcasing a person or city’s unique charms, but we’re also big fans of the blogs that keep us up to date on fashion news and product finds. For German speaking readers, Style Kingdom (not to be confused with Queen Michelle and Queen Marie’s Kingdom of Style) has that well covered.

Flypaper (Bluefly)

A company blog among the top 99? Though they didn’t hold onto their position in the most recent update, Bluefly’s blog was present in the first ranking we compiled. You won’t find flooded comment sections on the posts, but consumers and bloggers are tuned into what’s happening with the Project Runway retailer’s notes on fashion.

Les Attitudes

A little bit personal style, a lot of inspiration and a few dashes of fashion news, it’s not always clear where the items featured on the blog can be purchased (if at all), but we found ourselves wanting so many of the selections that it made an easy add to the list of blogs to come back to.