Withstand article penetrating clothing (7)
I believe the answer is:
weather
'withstand' is the definition.
(weathering is a kind of withstanding)
'article penetrating clothing' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'the' (the 'definite article' part of speech).
'penetrating' is an insertion indicator.
'clothing' becomes 'wear' ('wear' can be a synonym of 'clothing'**).
'the' going within 'wear' is 'WEATHER'.
(Other definitions for weather that I've seen before include "Conditions outside; survive (crisis)" , "Meteorological conditions" , "Local atmospheric conditions" , "Come safely through; erode" , "Withstand" .)