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

Tasteful bargains are often difficult to find in Cairo shops; low prices tend to be reflected in the quality. Advertising a mammoth sale of their entire stock, we headed to Turkish clothing shop, Defacto, in Heliopolis’ Sun City mall for some welcome reductions. Founded in 2003, the brand has become increasingly popular and has begun to branch out to an international market.

The store is large and split almost in half to categorise the men and women’s sections. Bright red sale signs stand above hundreds of well organised racks, clearly stating the price range of the items below. Members of uniformed staff wander around tidying the rails and offer their assistance once in a while, but largely remained inconspicuous, leaving us to browse at leisure.

We were impressed by their selection of basics; plain t-shirts for men and women came in both round and v-necks, in a plethora of sizes and a rainbow of colours (58LE-78LE). Similarly, polo t-shirts were just as colourful, starting at 79LE for women and 148LE for men. A collection of essential strap tops with feminine lace detailing were 79LE whilst casual, long-sleeved tops for men were 99LE. Chequered shirts were present in both sections (129LE-148LE), as were smart-casual blazers (398LE-499LE).

Jeans, jeggings, leggings and chinos were aplenty; the men’s section was particularly well stocked with jeans, chinos (249LE) and smart-casual trousers (179LE-249LE) in just about every colour you could imagine. We also spotted a pair of jolly striped shorts for 249LE along with some other, beach appropriate types.

The women’s section not only boasted denim jeans (179LE+) but a wide selection of leggings and jeggings (79LE-298LE) and numerous pairs of summery, floral print jeans (209LE). High-waisted skirts were also available in plain denim, stripes and bold colours (179LE), with longer length skirts retailing for 218LE.

Unfortunately the store was rife with poor quality novelty t-shirts (59LE-229LE), often sporting cartoon characters or senseless phrases. The blouses (199LE-249LE) were a little more fashionable, with some leopard print ones and some sporting studs in various colours. We also appreciated the presence of denim affect shirts (179LE) in the men’s section, before realising that they too were branded with a ruinous logo on the chest.

Faring better, plain cardigans (199LE+) were available for men and women, women’s tracksuit bottoms were 129LE and men’s t-shirts with coloured pockets were reasonably priced at 118LE. There was a small collection of informal dresses (200LE+), as well as a limited maternity range, and a ‘last piece’ rail.

The accessory section was large for both genders, incorporating all the usual suspects; socks (25LE-59LE), smart as well as fashionable belts (79LE-129LE), light, colourful scarves (68LE-99LE), large, simple wallets and purses (63LE-119LE), big, novelty watches (278LE) and a range of glitzy bangles (69LE) and costume jewellery.

Defacto fare well with a range of reasonably priced basics in a large assortment of colours, however, they seem to have missed the mark when it comes to the more trendy, high-street designs. We’d reccommend this place for necessities as well as simple accessories.