Remember when Cher dressed as Cleopatra for Halloween in 1988?

Editor’s Note: Delving into the archives of pop culture history, “Remember When?” is a CNN Style series offering a nostalgic look at the celebrity outfits that defined their eras.

A quick Google search of the phrase “Cher Halloween costume” will produce far more images of Cher impersonators than the Goddess of Pop dressed up as witch or wizard.

In her decades-long music career, the global superstar’s glamorous style and chiseled abdomen have become so recognizable, she is now a favored costume option for celebrities (Kim Kardashian, as well as musicians Halsey and Normani, model Alessandra Ambrosio and reality star Lisa Rinna have all tried their hand.)

But there is one rare example of Cher using her formidable fashion sense to get into the Halloween spirit herself.

On October 31 in 1988, the “Believe” singer celebrated the launch of her first perfume, “Uninhibited,” at a Halloween party thrown at the Diamond Horseshoe nightclub above Century Paramount Hotel in New York City. The woody scent came in a smoky crystal bottle with a crescent moon stopper. The front was decorated with a “Cher” inscription encased in a silver cartouche, inspired by “a small marcasite sarcophagus she received as a gift,” she told the Los Angeles Times that same year. Cher’s Halloween costume was another nod to Egyptian history, as she arrived dressed as a resplendent version of Cleopatra.

The look was designed by long-time collaborator and costumier to the stars, Bob Mackie. Her figure-hugging sheer black dress was embellished with silver sequins to mimic the folds of fabric draping, and — in classic Cher style — featured a diamond-shaped cut-out at her stomach. Cher’s sequined bustier was shrouded with another layer of black embroidered chiffon, while attached to the cuffs of her sleeves was yet more fabric to make for some dramatic gesticulation.

On her head sat a black velvet headpiece that simulated the blunt fringe and bob cut that pop culture has come to associate with the Egyptian Queen (Elizabeth Taylor’s performance in the 1963 movie “Cleopatra” in many ways cemented the iconic, though perhaps historically inaccurate, look) as well as two silver serpents and a larger version of the crescent moon stopper from her perfume bottle.

Other fashion-forward guests that night included Liza Minnelli — who turned up in a minimalist sequined mask, but a maximalist fur coat — designers Halston, seen sporting a white beaked Venetian doctor mask once worn by physicians during the 16th century plague, and Betsey Johnson in a ribbon skirt and coin-encrusted bodice. Elsewhere, Billy Crystal arrived costume-less, as did Francis Ford Coppola.

The shindig was put together by events producer Susanne Bartsch, who after decades of hosting Halloween bashes still recounts that night in 1988 as her best work. As she told W Magazine in 2018, “it’s always a good party when Cher shows up.”

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