Reportedly, chaps in front (5)
I believe the answer is:
guise
'front' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'reportedly chaps' is the wordplay.
'reportedly' shows a homophone (sound like).
'chaps' becomes 'guys' (both can mean men).
'guys' sounds like 'GUISE'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for guise that I've seen before include "Show" , "Shape; pretence" , "Semblance; likeness" , "Mask" , "Appearance, semblance" .)