From its origins as a clothing catalog company catering mainly to the college set, J Crew has morphed into a full fledged clothing and accessories business catering to the well off and with a more sophisticated twist.  The formula seems to be working well as evidenced by the couple of hundred stores worldwide and almost a 100 million catalogs mailed out.  The clothes are reasonably stylish, fit well, are mostly reasonably priced for the preppy look – in fact you often feel you are in a Ralph Lauren store until you are pleasantly surprised by the prices!  Limited editions and the soft Italian leather handbags are definitely upmarket.  There’s a bridal wear collection –available only through catalog or online- and a full range of sundry accessories for men and women, shoes, lingerie and hats.