Don bags lead in partnership (4,3,8)
I believe the answer is:
wear the trousers
'lead in partnership' is the definition.
'wear the trousers' can be an answer for 'lead' (I've seen this before). I'm not certain of the 'in partnership' bit.
'don bags' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'don' could be 'wear' ('wear' can be a synonym of 'don') and 'wear' is located in the answer.
'bags' could be 'trousers' (I've seen this before) and 'trousers' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'the' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for wear the trousers that I've seen before include "Lead" , "dominate partner?" , "Dominate the union" , "shelter supporting members" , "take charge?" .)