I've been singing this old song-- better known as "that snake charming song" or "There's A Place In France." It has the first verse:

I will sing you a song,
And it won't be very long,
'Bout a maiden sweet,
And she never would do wrong.

She was not long in the city,
Ev'ryone said she was pretty,
All alone, oh, what a pity,
Poor little maid

I get the sense of the first two verses and the song as a whole, (they're about a country girl who goes out alone and "falls") but does anyone have an idea what the third verse means?

She was engaged,
As a picture for to pose,
To appear each night
In abbreviated clothes.
All the dudes were in a flurry,
For to catch her they did hurry,
One who caught her now is sorry,
Poor little maid

What does "She was engaged/As a picture for to pose/To appear each night/In abbreviated clothes" refer to? Striptease? Posing for nude photos?
From looking at Google Books, I get the impression that striptease acts began in the 1900s, some time after this song was written (in 1895) but maybe they started earlier. Does anyone have an idea what it might refer to?