Filling a vacancy in the clothing department (7)
I believe the answer is:
darning
'filling' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both acts as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I don't see?
'a vacancy in the clothing department' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'a' is within the answer.
'in' is present in the answer.
'department' could be 'd' (abbreviation eg in MOD Ministry of Defence) and 'd' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for darning that I've seen before include "Repairing a woollen garment" , "Mending a hole, in a sock say" .)