Vanessa Hudgens attended the Vanity Fair Oscar after-party three weeks ago in company with the glamorata of Hollywood. As I looked through her pictures , captured in different poses, with a half-smile on her face, her eyes glowing and her curves sheath in shimmering black, I was more convinced that she is simply one of the sexiest and most beautiful women I’ve ever seen.

That impression was enhanced with her stunning pictures from the CBS luncheon at ShoWest and the gala night where she demonstrated that it’s all about the legs. And what legs!

Vanessa is not flawlessly beautiful in the conventional Hollywood manner nor does she fit the Barbie mould. She is quite short, her nose is neither long nor tapered, her face is not oval, her stomach is not perpetually flat, and she has a sizable bum and muscular legs and thighs. Taken individually, her features are fine but neither unusual nor remarkable. She is gorgeous, but then, gorgeous women abound in Hollywood.

Yet, in my eyes, she manages to distinguish herself from the crowd. Put together, her features are as striking as they are appealing. Even while being very much aware of her lack of perfection, one is still invariably dazzled by the overall effect of the statement she makes with her appearance.

When I see pictures of her or watch her in motion, the words; alluring, sultry, luscious, elegant, ethereal, lovely begin to float in my mind with no effort. I don’t think of those words when I look at many other female stars that might share the same attributes with Vanessa or might have better features or might be considered more conventionally beautiful. There is an indefinable quality about her, an aura that surrounds her irrespective of what she’s clad in. It’s definitely more obvious when she’s all glammed up, yet still emanates when she’s in sweats.

There are probably better words out there to describe this quality but I’ll veer into populism for a bit and dubiously term this ‘sexiness’. I have a strong feeling my definition of being sexy will differ vastly from the more popular understanding but since I’m the one writing, I prefer to reclaim this word rather than abandon it.

Longines, the French watch company has as its motto, the tag: elegance is an attitude. It’s very apt and true. I’ll modify it for this piece and state that being sexy is an attitude. One can say that being sexy is an approach, a stance, an outlook, a mind-set. It’s an art, of the unusual variety. It cannot be cultivated and hunted after, in fact, the more one tries to acquire it, the farther one is from it. Components that lay a good foundation can be acquired and though sexiness builds on those components, as a quality, it’s the fruit of a certain mindset. It is an attitude.

Vanessa Hudgens has this attitude in ample measure. She has an innate sexiness that requires no effort from her. She is simply sexy. While I cannot de-construct her inherent sexiness and will make no attempt to do so, I would like to highlight some attributes I’ve observed that enhance her sexiness and make her standout.

More in the next post.