There's a trend underfoot - literally - and it's making everyone glide around like Dougal from the Magic Roundabout. Yep, the maxi-dress/skirt - one-time favourite of Queen Victoria/Sienna Miller/the entire WAG pen, now giving girls dirty hems everywhere…

We're not talking about evening-wear; the red carpet will - and should - always have floor-length gowns, we mean the long dresses and skirts causing havoc on escalators all day long. The kind that flap in the breeze like a dinner lady on a skateboard and could fit the entire Spurs team (minus Peter Crouch) beneath.

First up, we can definitely see the benefit of the maxi-skirt/dress - a bit like the safety blanket Zooey Deschanel recently spoke of, they let you hide a multitude of sins and prevent your legs from suffocation. However, it's all a bit of a trade-off considering you effectively loose a hand, since you can't walk without hitching it up (see Una Healy above and Charlotte Church below). You essentially become your very own handmaiden... To be honest, Pippa Middleton's the only person who has ever looked good holding up a dress, and that wasn't even her own.

The second problem is that, as with any trend, people want to jump aboard even if the particular look doesn't work for them - and the maxi-dress doesn't work on many people. For instance, see Carey Mulligan up there in her American Apparel Chiffon Full Length Skirt (£40)? Well, replace her head with Angela from the American Office and she looks like a Pioneer Woman. Mulligan is 5ft 7", which is fairly tall for the teeny tiny world of Hollywood, but that sense of proportion has been lost now that lower part of body has gone.

One solution is to choose a long tube dress, which elongates the body and can be magically hitched up hands-free should you wish to show off your calves and avoid looking like you're in a three-legged race with yourself (a one-legged race?)... A la Rosie Huntington Whiteley...

Another idea is to go for something narrow, but only ankle-length - like Karen Gillan, which at least gives your legs a bit of shape. Much more chic than a Rooney or Hilton's halter-neck (seriously, all that fabric held up by one string?). If you're not as tall as Gillan, the skirt variety, which can be hitched up or down, works best.

So, there you have it - a solution, assuming you look like a model, obviously. For everyone else, maybe just buy a razor... At least we've got the midiskirt to look forward to next season.