To our modern eyes, Regency empire dresses represent a charmed and romantic era. But in 1794, the high-waisted look that had so recently come into fashion aroused much ridicule, and was described as the “banishment of the body from the female form.” The Rage, or Shepherds I have Lost My Waist was a doggerel based upon a popular song of the time: “Shepherds I have lost my love – Have you seen my Anna?”
Shepherds, I have lost my waist,
Have you seen my body?
Sacrificed to modern taste,
I’m quite a hoddy doddy!
For fashion I that part forsook
Where sages place the belly;
T’is gone – and I have not a nook
For cheesecake, tart, or jelly.
Never shall I see it more,
Till common sense returning,
My body to my legs restore,
Then I shall cease from mourning.
Folly and fashion do prevail
To such extremes among the fair,
A woman’s only top and tail,
The body’s banish’d God knows where!”
The implication of the ditty was of the poor lady’s predicament. She had to refuse cakes and jelly for her dressmaker had left her with no body. Worse, her legs looked as if they started just below her breasts.
This image shows a lady wearing the latest rages: tall feathers and an enormous watch with fob suspended below a girdle without a waist.
Jane Austen's World 
Please excuse my ignorance but I am not familiar with the term, vinaigrette. Would you mind explaining its meaning?
Thank you,
Marilyn Parke
Vinaigrettes, popular from the late 18th century through the mid-19th century, were small containers used for holding various aromatic substances, usually dissolved in vinegar.
This definition comes from Candice Hearn’s site: http://www.candicehern.com/collections/03/vinaigrettes.htm
Hi Vic, thanks for my daily chuckle! [and now I cannot get this song out of my head!]
Deb
LOL, what a wonderful song. Is there any sound track of it available?
Really Angelic
That is wonderful. I never thought about the new fashion upsetting people. And even a song written about it–thanks, Vic!~
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