The silk hat care, up in tatters (9)
I believe the answer is:
parachute
'the silk' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'hat care up in tatters' is the wordplay.
'in tatters' indicates an anagram (I've seen this in other clues).
'hat'+'care'+'up'='hatcareup'
'hatcareup' with letters rearranged gives 'PARACHUTE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for parachute that I've seen before include "Devise for making descent from an airplane" , "Equipment for making a descent from an airplane" , "Eat up char for something to break your fall" , "It breaks a fall from the sky" , "canopy" .)