In Web 2.0, fashion communities are finally coming into their own. With popular blogs from Perez Hilton and Fashionista, could it be long before fans and fashion enthusiasts tweeted and blogged their way onto the fashion bandwagon? And now it’s the turn of retailers to jump in and engage a wider audience. The following are four communities rife with easy consumer engagement opportunities: BecomeGorgeous.com: This site features articles about new and celebrity beauty tips and styles. It also has a massive community of users, and forums that encourage member interaction. Most are questions about style and beauty, but some are very personal. There seems to be a high level of openness within the community. Fashion retailers can take advantage of these forums, by having in-house or hired professional stylists answer questions and offer advice. The best way to participate in the forum is by keeping all comments and answers positive, and offering advice that makes the consumer feel happy about herself. Kaboodle.com: Kaboodle has been defined as “a social shopping community where people discover, recommend and share products.” It has garnered a massive community of bloggers, called ‘Kaboodlers’, who write about their thoughts on new products and styles. There are a number of different ways users can interact within the community. One of the most unique is Styleboards. Here users can create a collage of the products in their new style and post it to the community. Fashion retailers can do this as well, and thereby indirectly promote their collection, personalize their brand, and connect with users with whom they share a mutual love for fashion. Lookbook.nu: Lookbook is a “Collective Fashion Consciousness.” Users can upload pictures of themselves in their newest styles, in order to garner user feedback through comments and ‘Hype’ (up-votes). What makes engagement easy for fashion retailers, is that users can tag the designers who interest them, whose clothes and accessories they wear, and at the same time, search for photo and stories about them. This makes it easy for retailers to target actual and potential clients by offering style advice in the comments section of pictures, or by uploading photos with their products being rocked by a celebrity or model. Fashism.com: I blogged in an earlier post about Fashism.com, but still feel it has to be included in this list! Users can upload pictures of themselves and others can rate and comment on them in a very streamlined, straightforward manner. Aspiring fashionistas can get unbiased opinions and advice from dozens of people, unafraid to voice what they really think for fear of ‘hurting their friend’s feelings’. Users can also get a peek at the latest styles being worn around the globe. One way for retailers to engage, is to give targeted users a chance to create outfits from their collection, and post pictures of themselves wearing these outfits. An easy way to create talking points surrounding the retailer’s products. Retailers need to disseminate the fact that the clothes are theirs in the description to remain transparent.[UKS1]