A sports official wearing appropriate item - not this (8)

I believe the answer is:

barefoot

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'not this' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun but the answer is not.

'a sports official wearing appropriate item' is the wordplay.
'sports official' becomes 'ref'.
'wearing' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'appropriate item' becomes 'boot' (I have seen 'Item of footwear ' mean 'boot' so perhaps 'item' could also mean 'boot'. I am not sure about the 'appropriate' bit.**).
'a'+'ref'='aref'
'aref' going within 'boot' is 'BAREFOOT'.

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(Other definitions for barefoot that I've seen before include "Shoeless" , "Without shoes and socks" , "without protection for lowest members" , "'-------- in the Park', Neil Simon play filmed in 1967 with Jane Fonda and Robert Redford" , "Unshod" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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