Confused live model's first employed (7)
I believe the answer is:
bemused
'confused' is the definition.
(I know that confused can be written as bemused)
'live model's first employed' is the wordplay.
'live' becomes 'be' (synonyms).
'model's first' becomes 'm' (1st letter of 'model').
'employed' becomes 'used' ('use' can be a synonym of 'employ').
'be'+'m'+'used'='BEMUSED'
(Other definitions for bemused that I've seen before include "Stupefied" , "Floored" , "In the course of puzzling" , "Perplexed, bewildered" , "Lost for words" .)