Cavalryman with women's clothing on checks zip (7)
I believe the answer is:
dragoon
'cavalryman' is the definition.
(dragoon is a kind of cavalryman)
'women's clothing on checks zip' is the wordplay.
'women's clothing' becomes 'drag' (I've seen this in other clues).
'checks' is an insertion indicator (inserted letters are checked or controlled).
'zip' becomes 'o' (zip can mean zero).
'on' enclosing 'o' is 'oon'.
'drag'+'oon'='DRAGOON'
'with' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for dragoon that I've seen before include "Coerce; mounted soldier" , "Browbeat" , "Force" , "Cavalry officer" , "Old heavy cavalryman" .)