“The way a man wears his trousers may reveal his age, research says. But when it comes to waistband placement, history shows there is no golden rule. You no longer have to eye his hairline to determine a man’s age. There’s a new way to figure out just how old he is: take a look at his beltline. A survey from department store Debenhams suggests that a man’s waistband rises and falls throughout his life. Trousers bottom out at the age of 16 with below-the-hip styles and peak at 57, just seven inches below the armpit. Young boys may wear their trousers at their natural waist while being dressed by their parents, but they generally don’t return to this style until they reach their late 20s.”

Henry Herbert recently visited Pitti Immagine in Florence. It is an annual fair which brings together a collection of young designers, fabric suppliers and tailors. It is spread amongst the glorious Fortezza da Basso. And there is one thing that the Italians are so good at: style. The two photographs above show different approaches to making a jacket – all beautifully cut with stunning fabrics.

A small suburb of Brazzaville in Congo has become an unlikely style capital, thanks to its dedicated followers of foppish fashion. Dressed to the nines in bowler hats and tailored suits, a group of cigar-wielding ‘sapeurs’ have been strutting their stuff through the shanty town – and on to the pages of a glossy new book, Gentlemen of Bacongo, by Italian photographer Daniele Tamagni. Le Sapeurs, as they’re called, wear pink suits and D&G belts while living in the slums. Whether it be spectacles or bow tie accessories are very important for the sapeur, setting him apart from the less sartorially savvy crowd.

Why do we leave the last button of a waistcoat undone? We can trace this back to King Henry VIII. It was considered a huge insult to Henry because he couldn’t see his toes, let alone fasten the bottom button of his waistcoat. His courtiers took it as a style ‘initiative’ and followed suit, hence it becoming ‘the’ way to button a waistcoat. It remains a point of style even today and most well dressed men will leave their bottom button undone.