The woman on the track of the silk

Abstract

This article presents the story of Marie Benjamin, a Parisian dressmaker and her curious passion for silk. The story takes place during the First Fashion Salon of Paris, inside the Belle Époque’s atmosphere. The starlight of that salon was the silk dress, and it would become an icon for the coming years. Marie Benjamin was somebody that developed the pathological behavior of stealing tissues, and was arrested twenty six times for that. She used to go to the stores, steal big pieces of silk and use it to masturbate compulsively, even while she was inside that stores. After being arrested, she was conducted to the district’s sanatoria, where she met Dr. Clérambault. This man was an eccentric psychiatrist who was not only passionate for his clinical work, but also for dressing, tissues and Arabic drapery. This article intends to present and discuss some aspects of the encounter between these two characters.