The clothes we wear do not just protect us from the cold or satisfy the elementary need for modesty. Rather than cover us up, indeed, what they do is reveal us; rather than conceal us, they speak of us.

Clothing is a highly evolved and complex language which we can handle to our advantage, finding in its mysterious terminology that pleasure of expressing ourselves to the full. Just as in the "main" forms of communication, through the silent succession of generations and needs, history and habit have led to the establishment of certain norms. The mastery of these norms allows us to capture a space for freedom while seeming to be constrained within a rigid scheme, and to be the true arbitrators of our own personal Style. It is common to think today that dress rules give rise to an image which is excessively rigid, limiting individual expression. As a result the strategies have become to mock and play down. In our view this attitude is too simplistic, and behind a liberating appearance two dangerous mistakes are concealed.

Let us take an artist like Dante – if we may be permitted to use such a bold example. Not only did he not feel constrained by the rules of metrics, he also forced himself into the agony of the concatenated "terza rima", besides the scheme of the hexameter. This did not prevent him bringing us some of the finest poetry known to humankind. It is not the paradigm which should worry us, but rather the lack of things to say. Let us remember that the language of dress speaks of us whether we want it to or not. Those who have something to express will find in its golden dogmas an encouragement rather than a limitation, a method rather than an impediment. Cutting a diamond makes the stone smaller and runs the risk of breakage, but it is only through the precision of cutting that the light Nature wished to give it is revealed. It is a question of style and proportions, where the slightest detail may have its expressive relevance. The "mocker" may like to parade with the harsh note of a flashy tie or a designer label. Drums in the forest. The skilful conductor of a much more complex orchestra, the Elegant Man reveals his class to his peers in the exact measure of a lapel or the neatness of a cuff.
Secondly we believe that there is nothing Man needs less than being played down and mocked. After all, everything great and lasting he has created has been produced in the name of sentiment, and therefore of drama, in other words in the name of belief in an ideal, nourishing the sense - secular or religious – of the sacred.

Anyone who underestimates or neglects these principles will inevitably find himself a victim to the vices and pathology of every language: banality, inexactitude, vulgarity, even as far as blasphemy. Instead, those who achieve full mastery of this noble subject may reach the highest goals of style: correctness, eloquence and even – may we say - Poetry itself.

Just as Talking, Writing or Painting are both technique and art, Dressing is no less and the individual results depend on two factors. On the one hand there is personal disposition, an innate quality which everyone may or may not feel. On the other is technique, science, knowledge of the grammar, syntax, materials and the work of the Greats who preceded and inspired it.

It is those who feel they are called to meet the great daily challenge of Elegance that we are addressing with this Door. It is designed to provide an introduction to textiles and materials, occasions and their most subtle rules, garments and their accessories, as well as anything that can be worn and why and how it can or must be worn.

Jackets and ties are not the only issue. The Door of Dress will make suggestions for any occasion to anyone requiring them and will attempt to reply to each individual request and requisite. Any suggestions are welcome in the space for correspondence and we will try to respond to all queries, in respect of that single aesthetic goal we consider to be Good Taste.