Nicole Richie Just Started A New Hemline Trend — Bye-Bye, Mullet Skirts

It's Fashion Theory 101: The shape and length of hemlines have long been connected with the mood of an era. In good economic times, hemlines seem to rise along with stock prices. In bad? Hello, maxi-dresses. We still don't quite know what last year's mullet-dress trend said about 2013, but we do know that it popped up everywhere from the red carpet to Coachella.

We're still looking for 2014's skirt craze, and we think we've found it on Nicole Richie. Appearing at an AOL NewFront event in NYC on Tuesday, Richie showed up in a golden-globe-studded Anthony Vaccarello dress with a hemline we haven't seen before. Super-short on the sides and dropping to two handkerchief points in the middle, this look will henceforth be called (by us) The Loincloth Dress. As with all hemlines du jour, this style comes with its own hazard — in this case, an errant breeze and a loose layer. Richie's piece cleverly had two connecting thigh straps to keep those points from going rogue, and we imagine those big, brass studs help to weigh things down, too.

So, quick — before these start touching down on music festival lawns and alfresco brunch tables, let us know what you think. Yea, nay, or only on Nicole Richie?