Confessed wearing dress to need front scrubbed (5)
I believe the answer is:
owned
'confessed' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'wearing dress to need front scrubbed' is the wordplay.
'wearing dress' becomes 'gowned' (wearing a gown).
'to need front scrubbed' means to remove the first letter (the front letter is erased or scrubbed).
'gowned' with its first letter taken away is 'OWNED'.
(Other definitions for owned that I've seen before include "Confessed" , "Had lawful title to" , "made a confession" , "Acknowledged" , "Possessed; admitted" .)