With cloth tape, I am not too fussy about starting at the stem end or the end of hb, but usually start at the top, but one thing I always do is roll the hood up and put two short strips over the brake lever clamp before I start taping to make sure it is covered when the job is done.
I ride mostly on the brake hoods so I don't get the edges of the tape fraying on a "start at the top" job that happens on the hb bend sometimes.