An article by a make-up man would be in order (5,4)
I believe the answer is:
about face
'order' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'an article by a make-up man would be' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'an' could be 'a' and 'a' is present in the answer.
'article' could be 'a' (the indefinite article in English) and 'a' is present in the answer.
'man' could be 'bo' and 'bo' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for about face that I've seen before include "Numbers on a clock are" , "Military order to reverse position (5,4)" , "order at West Point" , "Where a babe might get her food" , "Reversal" .)