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

The increasing number of international brands and chains on the Cairo shopping scene has, in many ways, distorted the local market, enticing shoppers to pay over the odds for goods that are cheaper abroad – thank you very much taxation. Seasonal sales ease some of the pain, but there are an increasing number of shops selling items at discounted prices all year round, with Zone Zone being one of the latest of its kind to come to Zahraa El Maadi.

Featuring both men’s and women’s sections, the first thing that will meet you is the kids collection. If you proceed past that, it leads you to the female section, which is then divided into subsections. The first thing that caught our eye was a plain black cotton knee-low jacket (75LE), as well as a similar jacket that only reaches the waist (55LE) but comes in various colours.

They also carry a decent selection of skirts, from the plain and simple (77LE) to other slightly more complex layered ones (99LE) and black/white or beige/brown polka-dot skirts (95LE).

What really attracted our attention was the colourful selection harem pants – very en vogue in Egypt right now – featuring floral patterns in different colour schemes (70LE).

In terms of home-wear, Zone Zone offers a range of pyjamas and night gowns in all shapes, colours and sizes, in full-sleeve, half-sleeve and sleeveless. We’re not ashamed to say that we were rather drawn to half-sleeve turquoise pyjama set that featured Tweety Bird (75LE) – don’t judge until you lay your eyes on it yourself. We also liked a pair of sleeveless light cotton top and bottom pyjamas (104LE).

Zone Zone also stocks a selection of sportswear, with black cotton sweatpants selling for 66LE and a similar but thicker pair going for 75LE. They also sell track suits and cotton t-shirts.

The children’s clothing section features everything from small socks for newborns, to t-shirts, shirts, pants and shorts, all ranging around 75LE, as well as dresses. We liked a black and white polka dot dress featuring Minnie Mouse (60LE) – seriously, don’t judge.

You won’t find your red carpet gown at Zone Zone, but you will be able to grab socks, t-shirts and other essentials at reasonable proces and subsequently rest easy at night.