With his well-worn jacket and pipe in hand, C.S. Lewis appeared just as endearing a person as he was a writer. Walter Hooper shares with us Lewis’ humanity and creaturely ways:
“Even before he went into the nursing home I marvelled that Lewis had lived so long without setting himself ablaze. Except when he dressed for a special occasion, he wore an old tweed jacket, the right-hand pocket of which had been patched and re-patched many times. This was because Lewis, when wearied of his pipe, would drop it into his pocket, with the result that it would burn its way through. And this happened so often that there was none of the original material left.”
Lewis chose to wear an old tweed jacket, which is ever so indicative of scholarly types. Tweed is a medium to heavy weight, fluffy, woolen, twill weave fabric containing colored slubbed yarns commonly used in coats and suits. According to Mood Fabrics, tweed is warm, hypoallergenic, rugged and timeless.
Interestingly, these descriptors can also be used to describe Lewis himself (maybe not hypoallergenic, although we can perhaps say with regards to the uniting of the Christian faith and not adhering to any particular denomination, maybe he was). Because Lewis wore the jacket so much, it naturally became an extension of him. When you saw Lewis, you saw the jacket. Lewis’ jacket became part of his identity, and his jacket pocket became a repository, a home, for his pipe.
Lewis is a good antithesis to today’s fast fashion–easily replaceable, low quality clothing. He practiced sustainability because instead of repurchasing another jacket, he kept the same one for years (maybe most of his adult life). Tweed is a durable fabric that will last for years and will likely never go out of style. Lewis not only patched the pockets but he kept re-patching the pockets. In fact, the material eventually disintegrated!
But what I find truly endearing about Lewis is how much he lived in his clothes, choosing creaturely comfortable clothing as he moved about his everyday life. Lewis’ human vices ruined the pocket of his jacket, but he didn’t seem to mind. When he wearied of his pipe, he did not bother to find a place to put out the pipe. So in the right-hand pocket it went. For him, sewing the pocket back on was a quick solution; he just had to get back to his life– to his books, his writing and his everyday life. He had to go back to the work to which God called him, which ended up being extremely valuable for generations following him–a guide for Christian living, for creating imaginative fiction and for the defense of the faith. I’m just glad that he never did catch on fire!
Refs:
Intro by Walter Hooper, for C.S. Lewis’ The Weight of Glory
https://www.fabriclink.com/