Yeah I find the concept of sexy hard to define. I think you can look quite trashy and sexy. I remember seeing a woman at the airport. She had a great figure with a short flirty dress, high wedges and a kind of loud sexy laugh. I remember thinking thats sexy but it was quite predictable I would rather look attractive or interesting to most people.

Posture and confidence have been mentioned. I'd add a twinkle and a smile.

Whenever I want to look sexy I wear an off the shoulder top. I'm a conservative dresser and my shoulders aren't normally showing, so the difference is what makes it sexy in my bf's eyes.
My favorite look is what I call the Humphrey Bogart woman, which is a long evening gown with one or both shoulders exposed, and otherwise modest. Long gloves with a diamond bracelet and 3" max heels with swept up hair, good posture, and a smile complete the transformation. I would call it alluring rather than sexy, but to me that's a beautiful woman. The mystery of not being able to see everything, but just a little is what's sexy.

Nothing to add but I am really enjoying this thread.

Alluring is a great word for what I'm trying to get at... not so loaded and fraught with peril.

I still think I dress a little "sexy" for my age -- I still wear fitted jeans and fitted tops, which many women don't at my age. Sometimes I feel, is this inappropriate? Maybe so, but I am 5'4" and fairly petite and look more attractive in clothing which outlines my shape. I never intentionally show cleavage, but as my clothing is form-fitting, sometimes I wonder if it is lacking in modesty. Do others ever judge themselves this way?

My what makes me feel sexy list:
1) a fabulous look I have pulled together, I walk taller suddenly! Can be casual or super fancy, it's the confidence I get from "job well done."
2) taking fashion risks, even if they fail, I am proud of myself for being willing to look the fool.
3) properly fitting bra.
4) Wearing sheer panties -- i only have a few and save them for when I really need a boost.
5) Pencil skirts.
6) Scarves.
7) Necklaces.

Stuff that does not make me feel sexy but that I like: shape-up shoes, sweat pants, pony tails.

This is a great question and one I will have to ponder. IMO, sexy, alluring, beautiful, and attractive (to name a few) are not all one and the same. There are ladies on here who I find absolutely gorgeous and even alluring but who do not appear "sexy" to my eye. One is not generally preferable to the other, except perhaps in context or to the individual.

Just thinking aloud here, my sister-in-law is super sexy in the very typical overt way. She's petite, slim, large breasted, long haired, tan skinned, etc. She looks sexy in a t-shirt and jeans. She looks sexy in a track outfit! I don't think she is necessarily trying nor is she the most confident person in the world. It's just the way she looks and how she carries herself.

Other women are sexy in different ways but no less so.

I can feel sexy in well fitting jeans and a cute top, in a skirt with boots, etc. It also depends largely on how I feel that day and has little to do with what I'm wearing (though FAB shoes/boots never hurt). I have not been feeling attractive at all recently. I hope to change that.

I will think about this more.

Perfectly fitting jeans and a white blouse. Simple diamond stud earrings. Clean shiny hair. Flawless skin. Beautiful white smile.

For me, exposed skin that shows scrawny bones poking out is very unsexy. One thing I noticed about last night's Globes is that there were very few bony rib cages on display--women were either more covered up or had gained a couple of pounds.

In my own experience from my younger days when I would get hit on in public, more masculine looks caught many interested looks. One time I was at Mervyn's when I was wearing a beige man's shirt, sleeved rolled and tucked into Gap khakis. Now I would have thought that was the unsexiest outfit you can imagine, but I got hit (mildly) on a couple of times that day--so go figure. Who knows, maybe it was my clean hair.

I just went with a friend to try on clothes because she has lost a lot of weight due to a chronic though not life-threatening illness. Seeing her in clothes that now fit, I was shocked at how thin she's become - we used to be the same size, and now she is one or two sizes smaller. She was complaining about how unattractive she feels with the way her body has changed, and how a few more pounds would make her feel so much more sexy and sassy.

Yet so many people still say stupid things to her like "Oh, I wish I had that problem".

For me, there is nothing sexier than a perfect fitting pair of jeans, a nicely shaped top and maybe a pair of heels.