Searches for soft garments (6)
I believe the answer is:
probes
'searches' is the definition.
(I know this)
'soft garments' is the wordplay.
'soft' becomes 'p' (musical abbreviation for piano, 'soft').
'garments' becomes 'robes' (robing is a kind of garmenting).
'p'+'robes'='PROBES'
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for probes that I've seen before include "Questions or examines thoroughly" , "Investigates closely" , "Examines as dentist does decaying tooth" , "Investigates as dentist does tooth" , "Examines in depth as dentist does tooth" .)