Guest Post: All the Right Places – Jenna Sutton

We have Jenna Sutton with us today chatting about what’s sexier:  a man dressed up or dressed down.    Please help me in welcoming Jenna to Cocktails and Books.

What’s Sexier? A Tux or Jeans?

By Jenna Sutton, author of All the Right Places

Is there anything sexier than a hot guy in a well-fitting tux? Well, yes, I think there is… a hot guy in a pair of well-fitting jeans. And I’m not the only woman who thinks a man is sexier when he’s rocking jeans instead of something dressier. In fact, the vast majority of the female population prefers good ole denim. 

According to a survey conducted by Esquire, only 22.6 percent of women prefer their guy to wear a tux. A whopping 67.7 percent prefer him in “rugged jeans and a plain white T-shirt”. You’ll note that those percentages do not total 100 percent, and I can only assume the other 10 percent must prefer their men in nothing at all (which only works for me if I’m alone with my guy because I’m not into sharing men, brownies, or margaritas).

Did you know that approximately 450 million pairs of jeans are sold in the United States every year, and that every American owns, on average, seven pairs of jeans?

Jeans have an almost universal appeal, yet they mean different things to different people. Some people wear them because they’re comfortable and durable. Some wear them as a statement of style or status.

Jeans are at the heart (or should I say bottom) of my new series, Riley O’Brien & Co., proud designers and manufacturers of blue jeans since 1845. Around the world, people wear the company’s signature jeans, known as Rileys.

All the Right Places is the first book in the series, and the hero is Quinn O’Brien. He’s the great-great grandson of the company’s founder, and he takes a lot of pride in his heritage.

Quinn wouldn’t be caught dead wearing any brand of jeans except Rileys. And he wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a pair of skinny jeans, either.

Now, I’m not talking about a pair of jeans that fit. Jeans shouldn’t be baggy. They should showcase a lean waist, tight ass, and strong legs.

I’m talking about skinny jeans—those horrific pieces of clothing that cling to a guy’s legs like Saran wrap. Skinny jeans make male legs look like one of two things: sticks or stumps.

Ugh. Just ugh.

In Quinn’s opinion (and mine, too), there are only two groups of males who can wear skinny jeans without risking ridicule:

1) Tattooed, bad-boy rock stars like Lenny Kravitz or Matthew Bellamy of Muse (BTW, have you heard Muse’s new song, “Dead Inside”? It’s awesome.)

2) Babies, preferably younger than 12 months

And as visually offensive as skinny jeans are, there’s something even worse: colored skinny jeans.

Red. Purple. Teal. Orange.

Think Howard Wolowitz in The Big Bang Theory. I can handle his ‘70s haircut, his turtlenecks, and his unusually large belt buckles. But I can’t handle those colored skinny jeans. They’re just hideous.

I leave you with one last thought: most men wear what their women tell them to wear (this is a fact proven by market research), and if the man in your life isn’t a rock star or a baby, I think you should steer him away from skinny jeans and suggest a more relaxed fit. And as far as color goes, blue is best. 

In case you’re interested, here are a few more fun facts about jeans:

Blue jeans weren’t popular outside the U.S. until World War II when American soldiers wore jeans while they were off-duty

Jeans manufacturers first used indigo to dye denim because the darker color hides dirt better

When jeans first became available for women, the zippers were on the side

A boutique in the New York East Village called Limbo was the first retailer to wash a new pair of jeans to get that faded effect

The first in a brand new contemporary romance series starring the men and women who are determined to keep the billion-dollar denim dynasty, Riley O’Brien & Co, on top, but aren’t about to let success stand in the way of love…

Amelia Winger is a small-town girl with big dreams of becoming a successful designer. So when she gets a gig designing accessories for denim empire Riley O’Brien & Co., it’s a dream come true. Amelia can handle the demanding job, but she isn’t quite prepared for sexy CEO Quinn O’Brien. She’s doing her best to keep things professional, but the attraction sparking between them makes it personal. And so does the secret project she’s working on behind his back…

Quinn’s not interested in the new accessories, but he is interested in the woman designing them. Amelia is smart, sexy, and talented, and he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about her since they met. Mixing business and pleasure isn’t wise, but that doesn’t stop him from coming up with excuses to spend time with her. He thinks he understands the risk he’s taking when he gets involved with Amelia. But he doesn’t know he’s risking a lot more than his heart.

All the Right Places is Jenna Sutton’s debut novel. It is the first book in the Riley O’Brien & Co. series and is available now at:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble 

Jenna Sutton spent most of her career as an award-winning journalist covering business-related topics including healthcare, commercial real estate, retail, and technology. Nowadays she writes about hot, lovable guys and the smart, sexy women who make them crazy. It’s the culmination of a lifelong dream, and she feels so lucky to be able to do it. Jenna has a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Texas Christian University and a Master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern University. She and her husband live in a 103-year-old house in Texas.

Visit Jenna’s website at www.jennasutton.com or connect with her at www.facebook.com/jennasuttonauthor or @jsuttonauthor.