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Spinster forever The exploration of Spinsters and Catherinettes: A Subversive Spin on the Figure of the Unmarried Woman
Collection:CSM Museum & Study Collection
Date: 2021-2022
Artist: Marie Fillon
Medium: hand-spun tumble dryer lint yarn and silk coated cotton yarn
Object number: T.2023.344.CC.1-13
DescriptionMy project explores the figure of the unmarried woman - the spinster - in relation to textiles tradition.
Originally referring to a woman whose occupation was to spin yarns, ‘spinster’ became a derogatory
term which describes an unmarried woman, especially an older woman who is unlikely to marry.
The unmarried woman is thus inherently related to textiles from a language perspective.
This project aims to question the role women are meant to play, analyses how unmarried women are
perceived and highlights their ambiguous status: stigmatised yet celebrated, powerful thus feared.
I decided to focus on six different stereotyped characters which emphasise the dichotomy of the
spinster’s figure.
While the three first characters highlight the unfortunate faith of the stigmatised unmarried women,
the three other characters reveal the idea of spinsterhood as a powerful choice:
- The old maid
- The cat lady
- The redundant woman
- The career woman
- The witch
- The self-partnered
My collection aims to subvert ‘old maid’ knitwear. It is about keeping the technical knowledge and
textiles tradition but twisting it through materials and designs, combining latex and knitwear together
in a very unique way, playing with very varied notions such as the intimate, the fetish, the abject,
the domestic and the sexy… With this collection I want to reclaim the word spinster and give a new overtone to it.
Unmarried women can be blossoming and glamorous. Ageing should be celebrated.
It is a praise to self love and a manifestation for independence.
This i-Cone-ic bra belongs to the first character, the old made. It is an ode to domesticity.
It plays with the idea of household chores and questions expectations towards women.
The cone shape directly refers to fashion history while the material intrigues, precious yet
repulsive: it is made with a hand-spun tumble dryer lint yarn. It combines together lint from
my mum and dad tumble dryer's filter. Keeping the 'DNA' of the clothes that have been
tumble dried, the lint shows variations of colours (giving a beautiful orange and green undertone
to the grey lint).
Originally referring to a woman whose occupation was to spin yarns, ‘spinster’ became a derogatory
term which describes an unmarried woman, especially an older woman who is unlikely to marry.
The unmarried woman is thus inherently related to textiles from a language perspective.
This project aims to question the role women are meant to play, analyses how unmarried women are
perceived and highlights their ambiguous status: stigmatised yet celebrated, powerful thus feared.
I decided to focus on six different stereotyped characters which emphasise the dichotomy of the
spinster’s figure.
While the three first characters highlight the unfortunate faith of the stigmatised unmarried women,
the three other characters reveal the idea of spinsterhood as a powerful choice:
- The old maid
- The cat lady
- The redundant woman
- The career woman
- The witch
- The self-partnered
My collection aims to subvert ‘old maid’ knitwear. It is about keeping the technical knowledge and
textiles tradition but twisting it through materials and designs, combining latex and knitwear together
in a very unique way, playing with very varied notions such as the intimate, the fetish, the abject,
the domestic and the sexy… With this collection I want to reclaim the word spinster and give a new overtone to it.
Unmarried women can be blossoming and glamorous. Ageing should be celebrated.
It is a praise to self love and a manifestation for independence.
This i-Cone-ic bra belongs to the first character, the old made. It is an ode to domesticity.
It plays with the idea of household chores and questions expectations towards women.
The cone shape directly refers to fashion history while the material intrigues, precious yet
repulsive: it is made with a hand-spun tumble dryer lint yarn. It combines together lint from
my mum and dad tumble dryer's filter. Keeping the 'DNA' of the clothes that have been
tumble dried, the lint shows variations of colours (giving a beautiful orange and green undertone
to the grey lint).