Costume designer Irene Sharaff was solely in charge of the designs and numerous costumes made for, and worn by, Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 Twentieth Century Fox production Cleopatra. Sharaff won the 1964 Academy Award for Best Costume Design, along with fellow costumiers on the film, Vittorio Nino Novarese and Renié. Sharaff was chosen for her imaginative designs and influences gained from her knowledge of period costume. Although this garment is not labeled it is likely to have been designed by her.
Elizabeth Taylor wears an identical caftan in the still illustrated, taken during a wardrobe test. The identifiable palmyra and lotus flower motif is visible throughout the production, in some of the costumes worn by Taylor as Cleopatra and in the set design.