Clothes of independent workers kept by turncoat (7)
I believe the answer is:
raiment
'clothes' is the definition.
(raiment is a kind of clothes)
'independent workers kept by turncoat' is the wordplay.
'independent' becomes 'i'.
'workers' becomes 'men' (man is a kind of worker).
'kept by' is an insertion indicator.
'turncoat' becomes 'rat' (I've seen this in other clues).
'i'+'men'='imen'
'imen' going into 'rat' is 'RAIMENT'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for raiment that I've seen before include "Especially fine or decorative clothing" , "investment" , "Clobber" , "Clothing (poetically)" , "Gear" .)