Perhaps we should go into the fashion business. Genuine attire with the TPL logo emblazoned everywhere. Who wouldn’t gladly part with hundreds of dollars in order to purchase an authentic pair of Limited Edition TPL Smoking Shoes? For an extra charge, you could have your item personally autographed by @PappyJoe or @ghostsofpompeii
That's a hard question to answer. I don't presently own one, and doubt that I'll be purchasing one in the immediate future - but if I did have one I do enjoy the idea of looking a bit eccentric and might be tempted to don a gaudy paisley jacket while visiting my local video rental store (where I won't encounter too many people) or sitting outside my home to give the neighbors something to talk about. I know for a fact that if I was still a performing musician I'd have no qualms about looking the fool with one on stage. After all I wore a sequenced lined black cape on stage shortly after seeing Rick Wakemen performing with YES.
@woodsman - We still watch TV at night. Even though I don't have any tattoos myself, we got hooked on Inkmasters when it first came on. Some of the women who have appeared on that show give Bettie Page a run for her money.
I keep an old, many times repaired, warm coat that I put on over my clothes when I go out on my unheated porch for a Mid-Winter Night's smoke. That's the closest thing to a smoking jacket that II have..
Like pocket match safes, the smoker's radio, and collectable tobacco silks, the smoker's jacket is one of those anachronisms so far removed from our time and place that, in fifty-some years, they could be completely alien to the younger generation, relegated to some Alexandrian Library of Tobacciana. Which is why I do my best to maintain a reverence for the relics of pipesmoking's past, in certain ways. I'll light my pipe with matches whenever possible, and smoke in a designated spot on the back patio which acts as an outdoor smoking parlor, furnished with a comfortable lawn chair atop a fading woven rug. When it's especially hot, I have a fan, but in the colder months, I wear a dedicated smoking jacket.
It's more of a smoking coat really, and though not the traditional red velvet, the regal black wool and simulated fur garment is well-suited to the task. It's a bit longer than the classic example, and when worn with a pair of longjohns and a billowing nightshirt, I look like some long-exiled Tudor monarch. Flecks of white ash and a few burn marks add to the effect, inciting more than a few strange looks from passers-by. I get them in the summer months too, so it's no matter, really. The other day, though, I was donning my usual attire, when I wondered what made for good smoking apparel.
Comfort is paramount, followed closely by style, a factor largely related to personal taste. Clothing is naturally an extension of your character, a link acknowledged by the late Scottish anthrophologist James Frazer, who noted the primitive belief that "whatever is done to clothes will be felt by the man himself." During the First Persian Empire, for example, royalty often gifted robes to loyal subjects as an expression of gratitude, and an erring courtier would be punished by having his clothing flogged, a symbolic act that simultaneously served as humiliation and an example to others of the same rank. In this same spirit, it's almost as if the memories of all those pleasurable smokes are imparted into the apparel itself, like a well-seasoned briar.
Mysticism aside, there really is something to the occasional addition of another layer of pomp to the smoking ritual, particularly at the end of a long and arduous day. That isn't to say you should sacrifice comfort or take yourself too seriously in the process, but something as seemingly trivial as a change of clothes can elevate the experience to another plane of enjoyment. And if, like me, you have trouble taking yourself too seriously, just have a glance in the mirror.
@Londy3 The very reason I would wear one. Especially around family and friends. And don't forget to add the ascot as part of the ensemble. No self respecting smoking geek would dare wear his smoking jacket without a paisley ascot. I'm the official Family 'Babboona' (which loosly translated mean Villiage Idiot). Back when I was still performing in a band I would have given my right testicle for a gaudy multi-colored paisley smoking jacket to wear on stage.
Smoking jackets were often accompanied by a lightweight "Fez" style hat. these things were needed for warmth in those drafty stone walled castles and houses of Merry Olde England. They also tended to absorb tobacco odors and protect suits from hot coals and ash. Men's hair was heavily pomaded and washed once a week at most, smoking smells would tend to cling to the oily pomades ruining their scent. So, in effect, the smoking ensemble was a practical thing in the late 19th early 20th centuries.
Smoking jackets might look a bit silly, but most people think pipe smoking is goofy anyway, so might as well complete the part. When I pick a jacket to smoke in, I keep two things in mind: will it fit well as an accessory for my pipe, and will it keep me warm? The same goes for my clothes. I usually wear a collard shirt or flannel, even in the hot summer months.
Comments