Whether you are walking down your local high street, having a lazy Sunday brunch with the girls or just people-watching from your favourite local haunt, the opportunities to add to your bank of fashion ideas are numerous. From the friend who 'glams' up a Primark dress with a statement belt to the bold fashionista who creates a mock pair of Louboutins by painting the base of her sky-high heels in China red, the possibilities are endless.

While many are happy to divulge their style secrets to keep the fashion police at bay, others keep their fashion cards close to their chest so that they can hold on to the best dressed crown for a few months longer.

A new survey has revealed that a third of British women keep quiet about the best place to seek out stylish fashion bargains online.
Although the phenomenon of 'social shopping' has meant that women are keen to share their pearls of fashion wisdom through social media sites, 31% of women are still reluctant to share wallet-friendly fashion deals with family and friends.

More than half (57%) of this group have deliberately held back from 'liking' or tweeting about a  savvy fashion purchase while a further 44% refuse to share a 'hot' web link even when they are asked for recommendations from their nearest and dearest.

One of the key reasons behind the rise in 'anti-social' shopping for 63% of women is the fear that work-mates or friends will go out and buy identical accessories or dresses.

For 27%, the satisfaction of knowing that they are the only ones with access to the best bargain fashion hauls is enough to make 'anti-social' shopping worthwhile.

One in 10 respondents also fears that they will spark a buying frenzy if they reveal details of their bargain fashion sites and that prices will be driven up as a result.

However, while women are reluctant to share details of some sites, 'anti-social' shopping behaviour doesn't apply to well-known retailers such as New Look, Lipsy and ASOS as these are already common knowledge.

Commenting on the results of the survey, Charlotte Webb, founder of online women's fashion retailer Lovarni.com, who conducted the research, said: "There's clearly a thrill in knowing where to find and buy the best bargains, especially when times are hard like now.

"But despite the drive among retailers to encourage shoppers to share bargain buys with friends  across social networks, a significant percentage of women resist because of the perceived advantages of keeping their shopping destinations secret.

"This tactic works best with smaller retailers as they often have the best bargains and are less well-known. Larger websites are probably already on most women's 'favourites' list so there is no point in trying to hide them from others."

Figures from the web retailers' trade body, 'The Interactive Media in Retail Group', reveal that a staggering £68.2 billion was spent on online purchases within the last year. This is up by nearly £10 billion compared to figures for 2010.

Hunting out bargains on the internet was deemed the best way to secure a low-cost fashion item by 48% of shoppers, according to a recent report by leading digital consultancy Logan Tod & Co.

The survey by Lovarni mirrored these figures, with 54% of the 2,000 women surveyed going online on a regular basis to find the best deals on clothing.

69% of women also argued that they were more than happy to share details of their bargain fashion purchases with friends. 47% of women also found that 'social shopping' enriched their buying experience.