Welcome to 2013, where women have to be overly sexualized in some way or another just for appeal.
I'm not fond of all the skimpy female outfits either. In fact I actually detest them. Olivia, Nowi and Panne need to put real clothes on. Say'ri needs pants if she's going to be backflipping around on the battlefield. Cherche's outfit makes absolutely no sense at all. But you know what? The rest of the game makes me willing to overlook these things. Afterall, it's not like I have to actually use these women in battle--I can choose not to. Nintendo has tried really hard to get the series more attention and I respect that. Granted, I hope they choose a more modest cast next time around, but it's not like Fire Emblem has avoided scanty women altogether for its lifetime. :/