The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word DOUBLETS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
D
O
U
B
L
E
T
S
More clues leading to the result DOUBLETS
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "garments of an earlier time" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case garments of an earlier time = doublets.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 DOUBLETS mean?
DOUBLETS noun- A pair of two similar or equal things; couple.
- One of two or more different words in a language derived from the same etymological root but having different phonological forms (e.g., toucher and toquer in French or shade and shadow in English).
- In textual criticism, two different narrative accounts of the same actual event.
- (lapidary) An imitation gem made of two pieces of glass or crystal with a layer of color between them.
- A word or phrase set a second time by mistake.
- A quantum state of a system with a spin of ½, such that there are two allowed values of the spin component, −½ and +½.
- A word (or rather, a halfword) consisting of two bytes.
- A very small flowering plant, Dimeresia howellii.
- A word ladder puzzle.
- An arrangement of two lenses for a microscope, designed to correct spherical aberration and chromatic dispersion, thus rendering the image of an object more clear and distinct.
- Either of two dice, each of which, when thrown, has the same number of spots on the face lying uppermost.
- A game somewhat like backgammon.
- Dipole antenna.
- A man’s close-fitting jacket, with or without sleeves, worn by European men from the 1400s to the 1600s.