The 21-year-old Liverpudlian, who is engaged to footballer Wayne Rooney, came in ahead of supermodel Kate Moss in second place and actress Sienna Miller in third.

Coming just five years after Miss McLoughlin came to Britain's attention as a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl in an outsized jacket, this represents a spectacular climb up the ranks in the nation's consciousness.

The survey, carried out for women's magazine Look, placed David Beckham's wife Victoria fourth and his England team-mate Ashley Cole's wife Cheryl fifth.

The magazine's editor, Ali Hall, said: "Coleen has transformed herself from Puffa-jacket schoolgirl to style icon in just a few years.

advertisement"Women relate to her as she's more shapely than your average Wag.

"She doesn't mind splashing out on a designer 'it' item but mixes it with the great stuff available on the high street.

"She's not afraid to try out the latest trends but will hold her hands up and admit she gets it wrong sometimes.

"Now all she needs to do is give Wayne a makeover."

The survey asked 1,200 British women between the ages of fifteen and forty-five to name their favourite female style icon.

In perhaps a more worrying result of the survey, British women claimed that they spent almost three times as much per month on their appearance (£228.41) as they did on groceries (£83.25).

They also considered clothes to be their most prized possession, ahead of their boyfriends - who may be surprised to find themselves listed as "possessions" anyway.