DIY Cleopatra Costume (For Under $100!)

Need a last-minute easy DIY halloween costume? Want to seriously impress the crowd at a Halloween party by telling them that you made your costume yourself?? I’ve put together a super easy NO-SEW DIY Cleopatra costume tutorial that will certainly put you in the running for Best-Costume.

Total time: 3-4 hours

Pieces to make from scratch:

Collar
Arm Cuffs
Belt
Headband

What you’ll need for these pieces:

1-1.5 yards of semi-thick woven fabric (of your choice!) for the pieces you will make. I chose black snake embossed fabric. Pick something that will feel comfortable against your skin.
E6000 glue (or any kind of strong fabric glue)
Scissors
5-7 yards of several different gold trims You’re going to want more than you think. I found mine at Joann fabrics!
Jewel-tone rhinestones
Velcro
Measuring tape

Other things you’ll need:

Bra or Bralette top I used a bralette I already owned and just glued additional trim to the seam lines and around the bust line for added coordinating detail.
Long maxi skirt I took a skirt from a previous costume and cut slits up each side. It worked perfectly!
Cleopatra wig
Gold Earrings and a anxiety fidget ring to get a finishing touch
Strappy heels

Altogether the entire costume cost me under $100, granted I did use a few pieces I already owned. But purchasing a bralette and a maxi skirt from TJ Maxx or a discount store wouldn’t cost you more than $25! The wig was actually the most expensive part of my costume this year at $40.

Collar

Start by drawing a large circle on your fabric of choice. I used a large bowl from my kitchen to help. Then draw a smaller circle (trace a smaller bowl) close to the top of the bigger circle, big enough to fit your head through. Cut it out and it should look something like the below. Try it on to make sure it’s the right size for you.

(I cut the back of my collar and used velcro to secure it, but you don’t have to do this).

Next, time to decorate! Take your chosen trims and create your desired pattern. For mine, I took this gorgeous black and gold Egyptian-inspired trim and measured equal distance from the center to create a symmetrical pattern. Glue it down using your E6000 glue. Then I took a different simple gold trim to line the outer and inner collar hems (I didn’t actually have enough to line the entire hem but I made it work!). Then, add your jewels. Get creative here! I tried to recreate an Egyptian ankh hieroglyphic in the front panels… you can kind of tell!

Arm Cuffs

Measure the circumference of your wrist and forearm, about 4-5 inches apart. Add an inch to each circumference measurement (for overlap). Trace this out on your fabric and cut out the isosceles trapezoid-type shape. Then trace your shape a second time (you’ll want two cuffs!) Add trim as you desire; I put Egyptian trim on the top and bottom of the cuffs. Then take your velcro and secure it on the outer edge of one side and the inner edge of the other. Try it on your wrist to make sure it fits!

Need another Halloween costume idea? See my Sandy from Grease costume from last year here!

Belt

First, measure the circumference around your waist where you want your belt to be and add 2 inches to account for overlap. Measure this length out on your fabric and make the width 3-4 inches thick. Cut this out and you have the first part of the belt. Add details as desired, I added trim to the top and bottom. Next we will make the part that dangles down in front (I tried to Google this, but I have no idea what this is called). I made mine to look like the shape of a men’s tie, with a rhombus shape at the bottom. I used the Egyptian trim to create a similar aesthetic look to my collar, outlined this piece in simple gold trim and added jewels. I attached it to the belt with velcro. The final piece looked really awesome!

Top / Skirt / Headband

Take your bralette and use any leftover trim you have to add coordinating details as you wish. I glued trim to the bottom hem and seam lines on the bodice and the outline of each bra cup. Super easy and brings together the whole look.

Take your maxi skirt and simply cut two slits in the front for your legs. The slits can be as revealing as you’d like!

The headband I created was from leftover trim. I kept it simple since the rest of my costume is pretty intricate, but get creative with your headpiece! Add a fake snake head or maybe dangling jewels to yours!

Final Outfit

Here’s what the entire outfit looked like all-together. Pretty bad-ass, huh!! It got rave reviews at a Halloween party; people were shocked that I made it myself, but as you can see it was pretty dang easy and you could totally do it yourself too! I’m honestly trying to think of other occasions where I can wear it, it was such a fun costume to parade around in. Shout out to my friends who let me use their real cat as a prop for the photo below too.