Dress creating fuss before service (5)
I believe the answer is:
adorn
'dress' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'fuss before service' is the wordplay.
'fuss' becomes 'ado' ('ado' can be a synonym of 'fuss').
'before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'service' becomes 'rn' (abbreviation for Royal Navy).
'ado'+'rn'='ADORN'
'creating' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for adorn that I've seen before include "Embellish, decorate" , "Attire" , "Deck" , "Bedeck" , "dress" .)