Current, cooler clothing article returned in a mess (5)
I believe the answer is:
naafi
'mess' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'current cooler clothing article returned' is the wordplay.
'current' becomes 'I' (symbol for electric current).
'cooler' becomes 'fan' (I've seen this before).
'clothing' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters cover up or clothe others).
'article' becomes 'a' (the indefinite article in English).
'returned' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'i'+'fan'='ifan'
'ifan' enclosing 'a' is 'ifaan'.
'ifaan' written backwards gives 'NAAFI'.
'in a' is the link.
(Other definitions for naafi that I've seen before include "place for force-feeding?" , "Military facility" , "WW2 canteen" , "Supplier of the Services (acronym)" , "mess" .)