This has GOT to be one of those trends that's got the media foaming at the mouth, but no one you know is following . . . right?

--Supposedly there's a beach trend this summer where women are wearing FULL MERMAID TAILS.

--The most popular brand is called 3-Fins, and they were created by a woman in Vancouver, British Columbia named Monika Naumann.  She started making them after she noticed how obsessed her daughter was with mermaids.

--The mermaid tails replace regular bikini bottoms . . . you still have to wear a top.  They sell for $245 but, apparently, they're not just for lying around and having people confusedly stare at you . . . you can actually swim in them too. 

(Yahoo)