Mr Darcy’s (once) dripping wet shirt will be auctioned
The shirt worn by Colin Firth when he strides across fields dripping wet after a swim in the lake during thetv series of pride And Prejudice is among a number of period drama costumes being auctioned in London.
Cosprop, a costume house founded by Oscar and Baftawinning designer John Bright in 1965, and kerry Taylor Auctions, have announced the auction of the shirt, inset, which has an estimate of between £7,000 and £10,000, along with more than 60 costumes from film and TV.
Oscar-winner fir th played fitzwilliam Darcy in the 1995 BBC adaptation of jane a us ten’ s novel, opposite jennifer eh le as elizabeth Ben net-who is surprised when she visits his estate, Pemberley, to find him wet and not properly dressed.
The moment has been reimagined in Netflix series Bridgerton, when British actor
Jonathan Bailey steps out of a lake, and was also referenced in Bridget Jones’s Diary, which stars firth as another mr darcy, a nod to his portrayal by writer Helen Fielding.
Also being sold is American actress Drew Barrymore’s Renaissance-style gown with wings from Ever After: A Cinderella Story, a 1998 reimagining of the fairy tale without the fantasy elements.
Up for auction at between £1,000 and £1,500, the costume is also being sold with prince Henry’s (Dougray Scott) clothes with a guide price of £600 to £1,000. Both were made by Oscar-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan, who also designed other items in the sale including Helena Bonham Carter’s 1900s-style ivory silk dress from the 1985 adaptation of E. M. Forster’s A Room With A View, and Heath Ledger and Sienna Miller’s costumes from the 2004 historical film Casanova.
The biggest ticket items are a vintage 1950s’ christianball gown, worn by mad on na in 1996’s Evita, which could fetch between £40,000 and £60,000, and Johnny Depp’s Sleepy Hollow costume, estimated at between £20,000 and £30,000.
A dress and hooded cape worn by Meryl Streep in 1981’s The French Lieutenant's Woman is also being sold at the Lights Camera Auction event with an estimate of between £4,000 and £6,000.
The costumes have been donated by Cosprop to raise funds for The Bright Foundation, an arts education charity founded by Bright, who won an Oscar for his work on A Room With A View alongside Beavan.
Bright said: “My life’s work has been committed to costume design for film, TV and theatre and I feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to pursue this path. “It is my firmly-held belief that the arts and creativity can shape happier and healthier children and enable young people to reach their full potential.”
As well as the physical auction, a timed online- only auction selling memorabilia will run from February 22 until March 10.