Sigmund's wife wore Freudian slips.

In a curious turn of events that blurred the lines between fashion and psychoanalytic theory, Martha Bernays Freud, wife of the famed neurologist Sigmund Freud, has become the inadvertent star of Vienna’s social circles—and subject of scholarly debate—for her peculiar wardrobe choices. According to multiple accounts from the Freuds' inner circle, Martha has, in recent months, been exclusively clad in undergarments colloquially termed "Freudian slips," a playful nod to her husband’s groundbreaking work on the unconscious mind.

The phenomenon first drew attention during a charity gala hosted by the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society last month. Attendees noted that Martha arrived in an elegant but unmistakably translucent lace negligee beneath her outer attire, which—whether by design or "slip"—frequently revealed provocative embroidered motifs: dream symbols, repressed memories, and even miniature Oedipal complexes stitched into the fabric. "It was impossible to ignore," remarked one anonymous colleague of Freud. "One moment, you’d glimpse a floating cigar; the next, a tiny phallic symbol peeking from her hemline. It was... interpretive."

Speculation about Martha’s motives has ignited fervent discussion. Some historians posit it as a silent critique of her husband’s theories, particularly his controversial views on female sexuality, which Martha reportedly found reductive. Others suggest it is a pointed commentary on the gendered dynamics of early psychoanalysis, where women’s contributions were often overshadowed. "Martha was far more than Freud’s caregiver," noted Dr. Lotte Weiss, a feminist historian of psychology. "Her choice to literalize ‘Freudian slips’—garments that symbolically ‘reveal’ what society insists on concealing—could be read as proto-performance art, challenging the male-dominated field to confront its own blind spots."

The Freuds themselves have remained characteristically circumspect. When pressed for comment at his Berggasse 19 office, Sigmund Freud allegedly adjusted his spectacles and muttered, "Sometimes a slip is just a slip"—before hastily retreating into a discourse on parapraxes. Martha, meanwhile, has leaned into the intrigue. At a recent soirée, she reportedly greeted guests in a daring silk chemise embroidered with the phrase "Where Id Was, There Shall Ego Be," sparking whispers about her potential authorship of anonymous essays critiquing psychoanalytic dogma.

The trend has since rippled beyond Vienna. Parisian designers have debuted "Oedipal Corsets" and "Superego Shawls," while London’s avant-garde set now hosts "Slip Soirées" where attendees dissect one another’s attire as rigorously as a case study. Even Carl Jung, Freud’s erstwhile protégé-turned-rival, could not resist wading into the discourse, quipping in a private letter that Martha’s "sartorial unconscious" had outmaneuvered the master himself.

For now, the "Freudian slips" remain equal parts fashion statement and intellectual provocation—a testament to how the personal, political, and psychological interweave in the most unexpected ways. And as Martha Freud continues to parade through Vienna’s cobblestone streets in her symbol-laden lingerie, one truth seems self-evident: in the theater of the unconscious, the curtain never truly falls.