John Cram has the following to say but the original letter used quotation
marks so I must suspect it is or may be a real quotation when combined with
'decent'.
Jeffery Lewins
Jeffery Lewins wrote
> Porfessor Pinney writes: in a letter to his sister in 1932, Rudyard Kipling
> speaks of his pleasure in receiving an honorary fellowship at Magdalene and
> that he can wear a "decent stuff gown". Pinney ask if this is a recognised
> quotation; he has checked, he tells me, Shakespeare - I suspect either
> Pepys or pseudo-Pepys.
Doesn't sound like a quote at all to me, just a standard
description. Could almost be from 'Emma' but sounds
earlier. Visiting an 85 year old Cambridge don a couple of
months ago, he used the term 'stuff' proudly of his 60
year old gown, so it might be recent or been in use for a
long time.
from Jeffery Lewins
Magdalene College &
Engineering Department
Cambridge
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