Grand female in rather dated ball in which everyone can be seen (8,4)
I believe the answer is:
goldfish bowl
'in which everyone can be seen' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'grand female in rather dated ball' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'grand' could be 'g' (G is short for grand as in a thousand) and 'g' is found within the answer.
'female' could be 'f' (common abbreviation) and 'f' is found in the answer.
'dated' could be 'old' (dated means old-fashioned) and 'old' is present in the answer.
'ball' could be 'bowl' (bowl is a kind of ball) and 'bowl' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ish' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for goldfish bowl that I've seen before include "where Selima perished" , "Very public situation, open to all onlookers" , "Pet holder; place without privacy" , "public sphere!" , "nowhere to hide" .)