Was the leather muscled curiass of the later times sexier?

[Robert Vermaat]

There is always the remains of leather lamellar defences found at Dura from the 3rd century.

Definitely leather and definitely armour.

And the crocodile-skin cuirasses from Egypt.

The crocodile seems to be a one-off or else too exotic to be of use in this discussion (no Late Roman units from Egypt all dressed in croc!).
As to the lamellar, sure, no contest there. But I guess that Steven is talking about other artistic depictions, cuirasses?