Fashion Terms — the Apparel Search fashion terminology directory
Apparal is not the proper spelling of the word. The correct spelling is Apparel, with an “e”: A-P-P-A-R-E-L. This small section of the fashion terms directory exists because the misspelling is so common in searches, emails and listings across the clothing business — and because catching it is an easy way to make any fashion writing look more professional.
Welcome to the Apparal section
Yes, we know that this is spelled incorrectly.
That is our point...
This section of our site is to let you know that Apparal is not the proper spelling of the word. The correct spelling is Apparel with an "e".
APPARAL is wrong.
APPAREL is correct.
Do you understand? It is OK to occasionally use the wrong spelling, but please try your best to spell the word properly next time.
I think that apparal is correct.
I think that apparal is not correct.
I am not certain about apparal.
A misspelling in a casual message costs nothing, but the same misspelling in a store sign, a product listing, a job posting or a company name can quietly cost credibility — and, online, it can cost traffic, because search engines and customers alike look for the correctly spelled word. Buyers scanning a line sheet, editors scanning a press release, and shoppers scanning a marketplace all register “apparal” as a small sign that the writer did not proofread. The fix is simple because the word is short: apparel has seven letters, and only one of them is easy to get wrong. Remember that the word ends like “rel” in “relative” — apparel — and the third letter “a” never appears again.
The confusion is understandable. English is full of words in which an unstressed vowel sounds like “uh” and can be written several ways, and “apparal” is pronounced almost exactly like “apparel”. Similar traps elsewhere in fashion writing include “fashin” for fashion — covered in its own tongue-in-cheek page in this directory — and “jewlery” for jewelry. A spellchecker will catch all of them, which is the real lesson of this section: before fashion copy is published, run the checker, and give the industry's own name the respect of its correct spelling.
No. Apparal is wrong; the correct spelling is apparel — A-P-P-A-R-E-L, with an “e” before the final “l”, not a third “a”.
Because “apparal” is a very common misspelling of one of the fashion industry's most basic words. The section makes the point with humor: it is OK to occasionally use the wrong spelling, but it is worth trying to spell the word properly next time.
Apparel means clothing — garments of all kinds. It is the industry's general word for clothes, which is why it appears in company names, trade publications and directories throughout the fashion business.