The two silhouettes share fabric, hardware and waistband construction. The difference is the line the leg draws, and it changes what the pair does for an outfit.
From the hip, the leg falls straight and wide all the way down. The hem is as wide as the knee. This is the skate cut, the 2000s cut, the one that stacks on a shoe. It hides the shape of the leg entirely, which is either the appeal or the complaint depending on who you ask.
Wear it when you want the jeans to be the loudest thing below the waist and the simplest thing above it. Long tee, hoodie, done.
Barrel legs bow outward through the thigh and knee, then pull back in at the ankle. From the front the difference is subtle. From the side it is unmistakable: the leg has an arc, almost a parenthesis. Because the hem is narrower, barrels show more shoe and stack less.
The curve reads as deliberate, closer to fashion than to skate heritage. Cropped jackets and tucked-in tops keep the proportion visible. A long coat over a barrel leg erases the whole point.
Price-wise they sit close together on our rack, so the wallet will not make the call for you. Try the shape you do not own yet.