It's difficult to find a garment as widely embraced, worn and loved as jeans. The denim trousers are a staple of wardrobes around the world. But why?

Anthropologist Danny Miller has just written a book on the subject. He says that in every country he's visited, almost half the population wore jeans.

They were designed as work-wear for labourers in America's Western states in the late 19th Century. When a Nevada tailor called Jacob Davis was asked to make a pair of sturdy trousers for a local woodcutter, he had the idea of reinforcing them with rivets. They proved extremely durable and were soon in high demand.

Jeans represented the American West and when they started to be worn as casual wear, they were a symbol of rebellion. They were banned in schools, which only added to the fervour with which young people embraced them.

Outside America the trend was beginning to catch on too. Many of the GIs stationed abroad during the war were working-class boys from the Western states. While off duty they wore their jeans proudly as a symbol of home. The trousers represented an easier, happier American way of life, which Europeans wanted to buy into.

Miller argues they have become so mainstream that they are now a symbol of the ordinary - a garment people put on to feel comfortable and to fit in. But according to Paul Trynka, author of Denim: From Cowboys to Catwalks, there is still something in their symbol of youth and casualness, that puts jeans beyond the reach of certain people.

Famously, George W Bush and Tony Blair went out on the street in denim during their first summit meeting. They wanted to show they were 'regular guys' but of course, says Trynka, "they both looked like dorks."

Glossary 词汇表

a garment 服装
widely embraced 普遍受欢迎的
denim 斜纹粗棉布
a staple of something 主要的（衣服）
sturdy 结实的
a rivet 一颗铆钉
durable 耐穿的
to be in high demand 需求高
casual wear 便装
fervour 热情
a trend 一种潮流
to catch on 赶上来
to buy into something 看好某物
mainstream 主流
to fit in 融入环境
a dork （着装）不入流的人