They wouldn't have made it possible to get it through reverse pickpocketing if the player wasn't supposed to be able to wear it. It is another fault on Bathesda, either they should have checked the reverse pick pocket issue or fixed the issue of once it is equipped.
They never really expected people to use reverse pickpocketing for much besides the grenades thing. I mean, you get negative karma for RPP stimpaks -- it's pretty obvious what RPP was intended to be. Even then, why take the effort to fix a harmless exploit like that? You don't experience the associated glitches if you simply don't go out of your way to replace Elder Lyons' clothes and steal his old ones, so who cares?
If you want to talk about glitchy, how about General Chase's coat, which is supposed to be a "winterized" variation of Autumn's coat but is instead a suit of combat armor? Or Paulson's cowboy outfit, which has missing arms in 1st person. Both of those outfits WERE intended to be taken and used by the PC.