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Angelina Jolie Will Rule Her Cleopatra Costume

If you haven’t heard yet, Oscar-winner Angelina Jolie will be donning the golden headdress to play the legendary Egyptian Queen, Cleopatra. To be produced by Scott Rudin, CLEOPATRA: A LIFE may remind movie goers of the last time a sexy movie star played this infamous Queen of the Nile. Only time will tell if Elizabeth Taylor (who portrayed the Queen in the 1963 $44 million epic film) will have to abdicate the iconic silver screen image of Cleopatra to Jolie.

If you’re not up on your history, this ancient “modern” woman ruled Egypt as the last Pharoah in the 1^st century BC. Not only was she Queen, she usually got what she wanted first living and cavorting about with Julius Caesar until his assassination and then realigning herself with Marc Antony  to avoid the throes of Roman imperialism. As dramatic and colorful as her life, her death was less so – although still notable. After Antony committed suicide after falsely learning of her death, she killed herself by allowing a poisonous snake to bite her.

 Cleopatra costumes are almost guaranteed to hold court this Halloween and at other year-round masquerades, they’ve always been popular since Liz popularized the look of Celopatra with heavy eyeliner and blue eye shadow up to the brows. Elaborate Cleopatra costumes can be purchased as long, flowing white gown and a heavily ornamented collar and sash. Or the crafty queen-to-be can whip up a toga-like dress from a white sheet and use gold lame fabric to add royal accents. With her Egyptian heritage, Cleopatra is depicted with long, black hair – often cut to the chin. While the real hair of a lady living in Egypt may have been a bit curlier (no flat-irons back then), you can’t deny it is a diva-licious look, especially when topped with her signature gold-beaded headdress.