On Monday night at Amici, a bar popular among young, moneyed Egyptians, free shots were available to women in veils and men wearing the djellaba, the traditional robe warn by rural Egyptians as well as many conservative Islamists.

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She draped a bed in midnight blue velvet and put it in the living room (because a bed is more relaxing than a sofa, of course), tacked ikat fabrics over embroidered benches, and served couscous dinners wearing a djellaba.

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