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:
“A beautiful person among the Greeks, was thought to betray by this sign some secret favor of the immortal gods; and we can pardon pride, when a woman possesses such a figure that wherever she stands, or moves, or leaves a shadow on the wall, or sits for a portrait to the artist, she confers a favor on the world.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“To feel most beautifully alive means to be reading something beautiful, ready always to apprehend in the flow of language the sudden flash of poetry.”
—Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962)