Award at first given to partner's hairstyle? (4)
I believe the answer is:
afro
'hairstyle?' is the definition.
(type of hairstyle)
'award at first given to partner's' is the wordplay.
'at first' indicates taking the first letters.
'given' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'to partner' becomes 'fro' (I've seen this in another clue).
The first letter of 'award' is 'a'.
'a'+'fro'='AFRO'
(Other definitions for afro that I've seen before include "Hairstyle adopted by the young Michael Jackson" , "Big hairstyle" , "Tightly-curled 4 down" , "Big hair?" , "Of hair style, tightly curled and bushy" .)