Throughout the world blue jeans are worn by more than half of the population on any given day. Not surprisingly, blue jeans can be found to signify almost every aspect of social and cultural difference, from gender and wealth, to style and circumstance. Focusing their study on a North London neighborhood, the authors show how blue jeans have a remarkable capacity to enable the individual to escape from the burden of societal or class assimilation. Jeans demonstrate a common struggle to inhabit a category the authors refer to as "the ordinary." The importance of becoming ordinary is exemplified by our longing not to feel apart, but rather the need to assimilate and feel comfortable.