Fashion Terms — the Apparel Search fashion terminology directory
This section contains concepts and terms that are of interest to members of the apparel industry, fashion industry or textile industry. The goal of this area is to provide information formatted around key topics of interest to the industry in which we work, as well as to the ultimate consumer of fashion products. On this page, you will find areas of interest that begin with the letter “U”. The U terms run from garment details (the U-neck shirt) and seasonal humor (ugly Christmas sweaters) through production technique (underbase printing on dark garments) and website measurement (the unfashionable bounce rate), to market and style concepts: unisex brands, used clothing and utility wear.
This section contains concepts and terms that we feel are of interest to members of the apparel industry, fashion industry or textile industry.
The goal of this area is to provide you with information that is formatted around key topics of interest to the industry in which we work as well as ultimate consumer of fashion products.
On this page, you will find areas of interest that begin with the letter "U".
The seven U entries in this directory fall into a few clear families. Garment and seasonal terms come first: a U-neck shirt is named for the rounded letter-U shape of its neck opening, the softer cousin of the pointed V-neck, and ugly Christmas sweaters are the deliberately gaudy holiday knits that grew from earnest festive gifts into a party tradition complete with contests, DIY embellishment and themed gatherings every December.
A second family covers how clothing is made and sold. Underbase printing explains the white or light base layer screen printers lay on dark garments so top colors stay brilliant, and why that base must be flash-cured. Used clothing covers the secondhand market from the other side of the counter: clothing that has been purchased and worn, then donated, sold or traded through used clothing stores, consignment and thrift shops, children's resale, pre-owned luxury and wholesale channels, with the waste, resource and carbon savings that come from keeping garments in use.
The third family is about markets and measurement. Unisex brands design clothing, shoes and accessories to suit anyone, a growing gender-neutral direction in fashion. Utility wear is fashion built around purpose — pockets, durable materials, simple functional design and comfort borrowed from workwear and military clothing. The unfashionable bounce rate steps outside the wardrobe entirely: it is the web analytics term for visitors who leave a site after one page, and the entry explains why a high bounce rate can be a sign of success for a directory that answers questions quickly rather than a failure.
Start with the term list directly under the introduction — those links are the whole U section, each exactly one click away. Readers looking for a topic rather than a letter can use Fashion Terms by Category, which groups terms around subjects, and the full Fashion Terms Directory for the complete A to Z listing across both directory pages. Terms that start with a number have their own directory page as well, linked from the letter bar.
The U section covers U-neck shirts, ugly Christmas sweaters, underbase printing on dark garments, the unfashionable bounce rate, unisex brands, used clothing and utility wear — each reachable from the term list on this page.
Every U term has its own page with a definition and explanation written for the apparel, fashion and textile industries. The list on this page links to each of them, and the Fashion Terms Directory links onward to the other letter directories.
The terms are written for members of the apparel, fashion and textile industries and for consumers of fashion products who want a plain explanation of an industry concept.