To begin, we chose a brilliant white satin for the base gown. Because this had to fit over a snowsuit (we're usually buried under snow by the end of October), we had to make the gown a couple sizes larger than normal. We also had to make sure it was short enough for her to climb over a snow bank if she had to.
When it came to the cape, she picked a gold taffeta. Because I was dealing with a child, I made sure the cape could be easily removed. Children love capes, but only until the capes are annoying. Then they want the capes off, so the cape only loops around the neck (under the collar) and has loops to hook over the wrists. This makes it easy to take off.
Children take forever to make up their minds, so we were running out of time before Halloween. So instead of making the collar and belt from scratch, I purchased them, took them apart, and put them back together again. Why did I do this? Well, let's face it. Nothing I purchased would match exactly. So I needed to add a few new touches. A slightly different fabric and a few gems and gold pieces (not real, of course; she's just a kid) later and she was ready to go. Well, after the makeup and wig were applied.
I might have done a few more things to the costume and even used different fabrics, but she was very happy with it as it was. Since that's what matters to me, that's what we went with. I'm hoping to make another Cleopatra costume, a more deluxe version, in the future. Maybe next year.