Puzzles females wearing cotton, perhaps... (7)
I believe the answer is:
baffles
'puzzles' is the definition.
('baffle' can be a synonym of 'puzzle')
'females wearing cotton perhaps' is the wordplay.
'females' becomes 'ff' (I've seen this in other clues).
'wearing' is an insertion indicator.
'cotton perhaps' becomes 'bales' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'ff' inserted within 'bales' is 'BAFFLES'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for baffles that I've seen is " Bewilders, flummoxes".)