Antony and Cleopatra

Shakespeare's plays admit an astonishingly wide range of interpretation. This costume, designed by Alison Chitty for Cleopatra in the National Theatre's 1987 production of Antony and Cleopatra, looks nothing like the clichéd idea of ancient Egypt. It avoids obvious 'Egyptian' style and motif by looking back to a time before modern archaeology when Egypt was synonymous with a vague sensuous 'east'. Amid the Roman military uniforms, the Egyptian costumes suggested a more languorous, less restricted attitude to life.

The costume is made of sari silk, which is available in a wide range of shades and is often used instead of natural and artificial silks; these are more subtle in colour and embellishments than the exotic lurex and novelty fabrics often used for theatre costumes in the 1970s. Another advantage is that they come ready decorated, thus saving on expensive beading and embroidery.

Worn beneath the high-waisted coat-dress is what appears to be a full-length skirt. In fact, the garments pants are made of exceptionally wide tubes, stitched onto a hipster band slightly pointed at back and front.

The costume was perfectly suited to Judi Dench's physique, and indeed is very like the style of clothes she wears off stage - elegant, loose, figure skimming, but here given a twist to create a theatrical costume.