The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Located just off of Ismail Mohamed Street
in Zamalek, the oddly named Sicko is a men’s wear shop that recently opened up in the
place of &Company. Although this two-floored shop is big, the amount of
clothes is misleading in that a lot of the items are repeated but displayed in
different ways. For example, we found the same purple Zara shirt in four
different places, and we were drawn to each one like moths to a flame; thinking
it was something we hadn’t run our eyes over yet.

The amount of different shirts alone will
have you looking around for a while, and are priced between 150LE and 250LE. Authentic looking Zara granddad shirts are available in plain colours, but a blue
and white chequered version is the best of the average bunch. We were assured by
staff that they are indeed real, old-season stock. Also in the shirts
department are shirts from All Saints, which are a little bit more expensive
than the rest. Apart from these high-street brands, there are also quite a few
generic or unknown brands that strangely sell at the same price, although in
fairness they’re of similar style and quality.

One of the more remarkable deals in Sicko
is a range of plain Tommy Hilfiger polo shirts for 150LE a piece. While they are basic in design and
appearance, the same polo shirts retail for 600LE at the Tommy Hilfiger
shops.It’s hard not to be suspicious,
but to this reviewer’s mind, there was nothing glaringly wrong with these shirts. T-shirts are in abundance with a range of
meaningless motifs and design emblazoned across them, and all cost 150LE. There
are several colours of the trending Superman t-shirt that can be seen on many
an Egyptian chest these days.

Trousers sell for between 180LE and 230LE. A
dark blue chino-jeans hybrid and a pair of faded black jeans are among the few
trouser options. Both are slim fit and both are from Zara. Also available is
some H&M drainpipe jeans which, as the name indicates, are considerably
skinnier than the other pairs. One thing that they all have in common is a
quality that you can feel with a mere touch. The cut of the denim and material
is thick and sturdy, although we imagine the drainpipe jeans have very little
give. You can just go old-school and wear them around the house for a day, and
do lunges and squats to stretch them out.

Shoes are plentiful and follow the loafer
trend. As with the rest of the clothes, there are several ranges from Zara,
including faux suede loafers with and without laces in modest brown or daring
beige. In fact, faux suede seems to have a strong presence in Sicko’s shoe
collection, which is located on the upper floor. A smart pair of brown faux
suede boots are very similar to ones you can find in Pull and Bear at the
moment, and sell for 360LE.

The main problem with the shop is the available sizes. Sicko generally champions the slim-fit look and the sizes of the
trousers and jeans rarely exceed 36 inch. As this collection is old-season
stock, the items’ available sizes can be pretty limited.