Forget boot cut or straight leg — and don’t even think about skinny — Gen Z’s new favorite denim cut is Millennials’ worst nightmare.
Barrel-leg jeans, which balloon outwards at the knee with a tapered ankle, have slowly grown in popularity among the younger generation, a trend that seemingly began with Alaïa’s fall/winter 2023 runway and has crept onto the shelves of Free People, Madewell and even Gap.
Despite bold declarations that barrel-leg jeans are decidedly “in” this fall — and the likes of Katie Holmes, Jennifer Lopez, Blake Lively and Gigi Hadid sporting a pair — some fashionistas aren’t keen on the controversial cut. Critics have likened the pants to looking “bow-legged,” calling the barrel jeans “an atrocity,” “unflattering” and “Rickets jeans.”
“I was SO excited when I saw these pants in store and the try-on broke my heart,” wrote disappointed creator Ashlee Bock, who shared footage on TikTok while wearing the jeans.
Viewers were quick to liken the cut to “Kim Possible” and “parachute pants.”
“Barrel jeans are an atrocity,” one critic said, condemning the pants. “I’m begging people to skip this trend.”
When twins Sarah and Philippa asked their audience what they thought of their new Citizens of Humanity barrel jeans, many expressed their “love” for them, but others dubbed the pants the “worst jeans I have ever seen.”
“It’s like what jean can I wear that will make me look like I have rickets ????” quipped one person.
“Nothing but hate. I’m sorry this is like an anti-woman invention,” wrote another.
“HATE the jeans. Unflattering on the most perfect figures,” added someone else.
“Why am I the only one that thinks these make you look bowlegged?” one user commented.
Some shoppers who dared to try on the ballooning jeans feel as if they should be waddling when walking in a pair, such as creator Sara Diane who posted hilarious footage of herself in a store’s dressing room.
“It’s giving this town ain’t big enough for the two of us,” one viewer said.
“You need swinging saloon doors to burst through!” another user chimed in.
“That’s how my son walks when he has a poopy diaper & comes get me to change it,” someone else wrote.
“It reminds me of when people wear those inflatable Halloween costumes,” quipped one person.
“Parentheses pants!!!” exclaimed another.
Adamant defenders of barrel jeans, however, swear the best way to wear the divisive denim is low-rise, so that the hem of the pants brushes the ground.
But this is not the first time Gen Z has spearheaded controversial trends, much to Millennials’ chagrin — such thin eyebrows, tube socks and side parts.
