The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word ICE-SKATE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
I
C
E
-
S
K
A
T
E
More clues leading to the result ICE-SKATE
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Footwear" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case footwear = ice-skate.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does ICE-SKATE mean?
ICE-SKATE verb- To skate on ice, wearing ice skates