Colin Firth’s soaking Pride and Prejudice shirt sells for £20,000, and we’re a little jealous
The buyer now has a piece of cinematic history. (BBC)
Colin Firth’s shirt from Pride and Prejudice has sold for £20,000 at a charity auction in London.
The lucky winner now owns a piece of cinematic history from the BBC series, which saw Firth wearing the shirt as he waltzed across the fields following a dip in the lake during the 1995 TV drama. Unsurprisingly, the item of clothing surpassed its £7,000 to £10,000 estimate at the 5 March auction.
The Oscar award-winner played Fitzwilliam Darcy (or Mr. Darcy, as he’s affectionately known) in the BBC adaptation of the Jane Austen novel. Firth acts alongside Jennifer Ehle who plays Elizabeth Bennet – who is surprised to see Darcy dripping wet and not properly dressed when she visits his estate, Pemberley.
The iconic moment no doubt inspired Netflix’s sexy period drama Bridgerton, when Jonathan Bailey’s Anthony Bridgerton casually emerges from a lake to the shock and delight of his love interest, Simone Ashley’s Kate Sharma.
Cosprop, a costume house founded by Oscar and Bafta-winner John Bright donated the shirt to raise funds for The Bright Foundation, an arts education charity founded by the designer.
Elsewhere at the event, a vintage 1950s Christian Dior ball gown worn by Madonna in 1996’s Evita sold for an impressive £40,000.
Drew Barrymore’s costume as Danielle in the 1998 movie Ever After: A Cinderella Story was sold for £16,000, and overtook its estimate of up to £1,500.
The auction was hosted by Kerry Taylor Auctions in London. It raised a total of £285,300.
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.”
It’s not uncommon for iconic items of clothing to be snatched up at auction events. In January, Carrie Bradshaw’s statement white tutu from the opening credits of Sex and the City was bought for over $50,000.
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