Trends: Click here to dress like me

Online social networks have long let users reveal their preferences to each other, but now they are moving to the next level by harnessing the potential of personal recommendations.

UK site osoyou.com gives surfers access to users' sartorial tips, while iliketotallyloveit.com from Germany allows users to share more general products that they think people should buy, and provides a link to an online shop where the items can be purchased.

MyFaveShop.com takes the trend even further. A venture from Lord Saatchi (pictured) and John Clare, the former chief executive of Dixons, it lets shoppers design their own web store, choose the products to display and then invite friends and family to stop by for a spot of peer-endorsed e-tailing.