Hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!! Me and my mum noticed that too, and the hunky guy stood next to her, his outfit is nearly as bad!!

I think it's SE's attempt at being modern, because I noticed it starting in FFX, remember Donna's outfit? Then it just went more and more crazy from there!

Maybe they think that kind of sexiness will appeal to the considerable amount of twenty-somethings that play these games. And if it works it has to be cool! I noticed a few similarities in the FFX and FFXII worlds, and that may be another reason, to establish that this is SE's style now. Or maybe to tempt people away from an FFVII remake, because they wear really simple outfits!

Well, except for Shalua on DoC, but that's getting off topic...

Heh heh heh look at all the Viera, that's just wrong yet it's so cool at the same time!

Again, how S-E is dressing its men and women is no big deal, and yes, people are still freaking out about Lulu's boobs (there are a few threads now about her in the FFX forum, and in any of them, you should be able to find quite a few who are somehow upset about them).

Basically, you have FFX, which is largely set in the tropical regions of Spira. Hot weather = fewer clothes. For the most part, this is the case with FFXII also, beginning in a city surrounded by desert.
My only quibble would be a minor graphical issue, which would be to have alternate costumes for colder weather zones, such as Gagazet or the Paramina Rift. That's probably asking a bit, since S-E was too lazy to even graphically make Lulu pregnant in X-2, though.