Colin Firth’s sopping wet shirt from the 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is expected to sell for around £10,000 at auction.
The white button-up went up for sale today (March 5) for charity, along with a series of other TV and movie props. Outfits worn by Johnny Depp, Margot Robbie and Madonna will also be up for sale in an auction run by Kerry Taylor Auctions.
The long white garment is part of a lot from the Cosprop archives – the costume house founded by Oscar-winner John Bright. And though the shirt didn’t actually feature in the original novel, it made for an iconic TV moment, even though it has finally dried out.
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In the famous scene, Mr Darcy heads out for a swim in a lake – fully clothed – before he runs into Elizabeth Bennet, played by Jennifer Ehle. It cemented the Bridget Jones star as a sex symbol, and has been given an estimated price between £7,000 and £10,000.
Also up for sale is Johnny Depp’s Sleepy Hollow costume, a masquerade ball costume from Heath Ledger’s time filming Casanova, and even more outfits from shows like Downton Abbey and Peaky Blinders. Madonna’s Christian Dior gown from Evita, meanwhile, is estimated to raise up to £60,000.
The garments will raise money for Hastings-based arts charity The Bright Foundation, which offers educational and cultural activities for disadvantaged young people. The online auction runs until March 10th.
The lot’s website promises: “Bidders can acquire costumes for enjoyment, investment or simply to dress up in, secure in the knowledge that their purchases will also assist The Bright Foundation’s projects for disadvantaged young people.”
It adds: “The costumes range in style from fantasy Renaissance creations to more wearable 20th century silhouettes and will appeal to serious Hollywood and TV period drama costume collectors, or those who just like to dress up!”
The shirt itself features a Cosprop label with Firth’s name inked into it, and is made from white linen. It features “pleated gathers to sleeve tops, deep collar, buttoned neck opening together with a muslin cravat”. The winning bidder will also receive a tailcoat, boots, breeches with wooden knee buttons and a waistcoat.
Designer Dinah Collin said of the iconic scene: “Mr Darcy’s ‘wet shirt moment’ was never scripted. It came about in discussions between myself and the late Christopher Prins who was then head of menswear at Cosprop. In the scene Mr Darcy is spied emerging from a lake having taken a cooling swim on a hot summer’s day.
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“Because on screen male nudity was not permitted (taking into account the BBC watershed and US broadcasts) – the idea of the ‘wet shirt’ was born. Our way round this was for Colin Firth to be filmed ¾ length wearing just the Irish linen shirt (copied from an antique original) which clung to the body.
“The scene caused something of a sensation at the time and transformed Colin Firth from a respected classical actor to something of a sex symbol overnight!”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
