Cleopatra, coming atcha...

Have you seen Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra? Isn't she/it the most fabulous thing? Ok, so the costumes have less to do with Ancient Egypt and more to do with what was fashionable at the time (and what would show La Taylor's splendid décolletage to its best advantage), the one above, for example, is a beauty.

But who cares? 4 hours and 65 costumes later, I defy you not be sit there in stupefied wonder at the gold! The Sequins! The Glitter! At $194,800 the budget for lovely Liz's wardrobe was the highest ever for a single screen actor, and included one dress actually made from 24 carat gold cloth (I'm hoping it's this one). Nice asp indeed...

I had a friend who wrote her dissertation on the many different versions of the Cinderella story (we never agree about The Slipper and the Rose, I love, she hates)), and I think (were I at college again with vastly sympathetic tutors) I would do the same for the many versions of Cleopatra out there, from the smoky eyes/string of pearls of silent movies to 'Cleopatra 2525', which judging by the imdb plot summary, is something I can't believe I missed. But then, off I went a-googling, and it appears it's already been done. Darn.

In an epoch as somber as ours, one must fight for luxury inch by inch.

Christian Dior (1905 - 1957)