Female and male wearing girl's flares (7)

I believe the answer is:

flashes

'flares' is the definition.
('flash' can be a synonym of 'flare')

'female and male wearing girl's' is the wordplay.
'female' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'male' becomes 'he'.
'wearing' indicates putting letters inside.
'girl's' becomes 'lass' (lass is a kind of girl**).
'he' inserted inside 'lass' is 'lashes'.
'f'+'lashes'='FLASHES'

(Another definition for flashes that I've seen is " Shines briefly".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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