Fashion Terms — the Apparel Search fashion terminology directory
This page is for the visitor who already suspects the truth: apparal is definitely the wrong spelling of the word. Apparel is spelled A-P-P-A-R-E-L, and those who understand that earn the salute this page offers. For everyone still spelling it the other way, the correction — and a pointer to the companion misspelling “fashin” — is below.
I think that Apparal is definitely the wrong spelling of the word ...
| Apparal |
For those of you that understand that Apparel should be spelled A-P-P-A-R-E-L we solute you... You are absolutely correct.
If you think that Apparal is correct, please look into purchasing a dictionary. In case you are curious, Fashion is not spelled fashin.
If you enjoy "apparel", you may also find "fashin" to be of interest.
Apparel comes into English through Old French from a verb meaning to make ready or equip, which is a fitting origin for the industry's umbrella word for clothing: apparel is what equips a person to be dressed. The word has kept the same spelling in English for centuries — seven letters, A-P-P-A-R-E-L — and it appears that way in trade names, legal documents, customs categories and store signage throughout the clothing business. No recognized variant spelling exists; “apparal” is not an American or British alternative, just an error.
That consistency is worth protecting in your own writing. A catalog, résumé or business proposal that spells the industry's name correctly signals care before a single product is judged. Readers who know the word — and in fashion, nearly every reader does — notice the wrong version instantly. So this page's position is the directory's position: if you understand that apparel should be spelled A-P-P-A-R-E-L, you are absolutely correct, and if you have been writing apparal, the dictionary and a spellchecker will happily settle the matter in your favor from now on.
Apparel. A-P-P-A-R-E-L, with an E before the final L. Apparal, with a third A, is definitely wrong.
No — as this page notes, in case you are curious, fashion is not spelled fashin either. The directory keeps a page for that misspelling too, linked below.
Because a joke is remembered longer than a scolding. The pages make one simple point — check the spelling of the industry's most common words — in a way visitors tend to share and recall.