Style,Where to buy

Menswear finally hits The Hambledon

Ahh, Winchester. The name alone is redolent of lazy summer weekends, green spaces and cricketing whites – or maybe we’re just jaded Londoners. Regardless, Winchester is an ideal escape; a county town an hour outside of London brimming with history, culture and, most importantly, shopping…

Which brings us neatly onto The Hambledon, a quintessentially Winchesterian (?) enterprise. Founded in 1999 with the aim of selling ‘beautiful and unexpected things to lovely people’, The Hambledon is a carefully stocked independent store located in a picturesque market square at the heart of the town.

Purveying brand-name and vintage womenswear, kidswear, furniture and accessories for the past ten years, The Hambledon this month celebrates a decade in business with an extension into the store’s Norman basement, to incorporate a full range of menswear for Autumn and Winter 2010.

And what a range it is; with Esquire favourites including Heritage Research, APC, YMC and Paul Smith stocked alongside a range of carefully curated vintage pieces (never before has a French tin top hat seemed like such a reasonable purchase) our urge to flee the capital has never been stronger.

The Hambledon, 10 The Square, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 9ES. 01962 890055. www.thehambledon.com

Words by Max Olesker