Perforations left shoe in tatters (5)
I believe the answer is:
holes
'perforations' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'left shoe in tatters' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'in tatters' indicates an anagram (I've seen this in other clues).
'l'+'shoe'='lshoe'
'lshoe' with letters rearranged gives 'HOLES'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for holes that I've seen before include "Empty spaces" , "Apertures" , "Scrapes" , "Cavities" , "Openings" .)