ShopStyle, the search engine for fashionistas

Hey, style freaks: here's another reason to spend more time on the Internet. ShopStyle is a search engine that will paw through the inventories of all kinds of online clothing sites to find exactly what you're searching for. I'm not much of an online shopper since I like to try things on before buying them, but I can see ShopStyle being a very valuable search tool for people who dig the bargains that can be found on clothing sites.

We're not talking a simple Froogle-style interface here. ShopStyle is very Ajax-y. Search results scroll sideways, and when you hover your mouse over a photo that turns up, it'll provide you with details about the item in question as well as what sizes the retailer has in stock. Naturally, there are also some social networking functions. You can create a "stylebook" of various "looks" you've created, and amass a list of friends based on the content of those stylebooks. Because, you know, nothing is really anything these days without social networking.

What would be really cool is if ShopStyle could expand its "base" of sites searched so that results could point you to cool independent online retailers that you might not have heard of otherwise. When I did a search for the premium-denim brand 7 For All Mankind, the majority of the results were from department stores like Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's, as well as big "e-tailers" like ShopBop and eLuxury. Nevertheless, it's a cool new site, and if I'm looking for a replacement for my favorite pair of jeans any time soon, I'll certainly check it out.