Dowdy woman following behind (5)
I believe the answer is:
frump
'dowdy woman' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'following behind' is the wordplay.
'following' becomes 'f' (used when citing page numbers etc).
'behind' becomes 'rump' ('rump' can be a synonym of 'behind').
'f'+'rump'='FRUMP'
(Other definitions for frump that I've seen before include "old maid?" , "not much of a dish?" , "Dowdy type" , "Dowdy-clothed woman" , "Dowdy woman" .)