J.Crew, a brand of sportswear started in 1983, added a new dimension to casual dress in America. The brand's catalog—which in 1994 was mailed in eighteen "issues" with a circulation of four million copies per issue—presented J.Crew clothing in photographs that illustrated a particular lifestyle. Models were not pictured in standard poses against standard backgrounds as they had been in department-store catalogs for years. Instead, J.Crew models were pictured making Thanksgiving dinner with "family," spending a day at the beach, playing croquet at a garden party, or lounging in a city loft apartment.

The catalog pictures promoted more than the clothes—stonewashed jeans (see entry under 1950s—Fashion in volume 3), T-shirts (see entry under 1910s—Fashion in volume 1), and roll-neck sweaters; indeed, they promoted an approach to life. Many young adults, college students, and early career professionals adopted the J.Crew look as...