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.

How’d you get so funky, King Tut? In case you’ve been living under a pyramid or something, King Tutankhamen was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who is now most known for the widely-visited museum displays of his belongings, the fact that he was a “boy king”, the mysterious circumstances of his death. Reigning over Egypt from age 9 to about 19 years old, many have speculated that he was murdered by a blow to the back of the head. Recently, scientists have concluded that he probably died of gangrene after breaking his leg, quite likely in a chariot accident.

Who could forget Steve Martin’s rendition, later performed on Saturday Night Live, of “King Tut”. Performed in an over-the-top style and SNL’s most expensive set up until that date, Martin’s homage to the boy king became an instant classic with comedy fans everywhere. If you feel like dancing by the Nile, dress up in a King Tut costume like Steve Martin with a wrapped, long skirt in a metallic Egyptian fabric that had a criss-cross collar across a bare chest. Add a headdress and step out of a sarcophagus, and you’ll feel anything but dead in this afterlife.

There are other Egyptian costumes found through Costume Machine that work well for a King Tut costume. For example, one such costume features a gauzy white tunic with intricate gold lame and turquoise belt, cuffs, collar and elaborate headpiece that is actually modeled after Tutankhamun’s death mask. For an authentic look, wear heavy eyeliner around your eyes and pointing out at the lids in the same manner of the reconstruction photo of King Tut. Who knows, maybe you could wear this “golden idol” look to the “Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” exhibit as it travels from San Francisco to New York City in April 2010.