Intention to appear in torn dress (7)
I believe the answer is:
raiment
'dress' is the definition.
(I know that dress can be written as raiment)
'intention to appear in torn' is the wordplay.
'intention' becomes 'aim' (synonyms).
'to appear in' is an insertion indicator.
'torn' becomes 'rent' (rending is a kind of tearing).
'aim' put within 'rent' is 'RAIMENT'.
(Other definitions for raiment that I've seen before include "these garments are old-fashioned" , "dress?" , "Garb" , "Clothing (archaic)" , "Gear" .)