The annual feature Sexiest Woman Alive designation by the magazine is billed as a benchmark of female attractiveness.
Originally, it was a part of the "Women We Love" issue that was released in November. To build interest, the magazine would do a tease, releasing images of the woman's body parts in the issues preceding the November issue. By 2007, it had become the dominating story of the issue and to create an element of surprise the hints were abandoned.
| Year | Choice | Age | Notes |
| 2004 | Angelina Jolie | 29 | First winner |
| 2005 | Jessica Biel | 23 | |
| 2006 | Scarlett Johansson | 21 | Youngest winner |
| 2007 | Charlize Theron | 32 | First African winner |
| 2008 | Halle Berry | 42 | Oldest winner; first mixed race winner |
| 2009 | Kate Beckinsale | 36 | First European winner |
| 2010 | Minka Kelly | 30 | |
| 2011 | Rihanna | 23 | First Caribbean winner |
| 2012 | / Mila Kunis | 29 |
Read more about this topic: Esquire (magazine)
Famous quotes containing the words woman and/or alive:
“I trust it will not be giving away professional secrets to say that many readers would be surprised, perhaps shocked, at the questions which some newspaper editors will put to a defenseless woman under the guise of flattery.”
—Kate Chopin (1851–1904)
“During a walk or in a book or in the middle of an embrace, suddenly I awake to a stark amazement at everything. The bare fact of existence paralyzes me... To be alive is so incredible that all I can do is to lie still and merely breathe—like an infant on its back in a cot. It is impossible to be interested in anything in particular while overhead the sun shines or underneath my feet grows a single blade of grass.”
—W.N.P. Barbellion (1889–1919)