A London auction has sold an outfit worn by actor Colin Firth in a television version of English novelist Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice for more than twice its expected value.
The ensemble – including Firth’s famous swim-soaked shirt – fetched £20,000 (about €23,400; $25,450) in the auction, plus a £5,000 buyer’s premium. The auction also featured garments worn by numerous other celebrities for television and cinema.>
Why is the costume so famous?
The sequence sees Firth’s character Mr Darcy swimming in a pond before emerging and encountering his future true love, Elizabeth Bennet. It was once voted the most memorable television moment in UK television history.>
The segment depicts an awkward conversational moment for the pair, neither wishing to draw attention to Darcy’s drenched and dishevelled appearance.
Script-writer Andrew Davies said the scene – not part of Austin’s original novel – was never intended to highlight a sexual connection between Elizabeth and Darcy. Instead, he said, it was intended as “an amusing moment in which Darcy tries to maintain his dignity while improperly dressed and sopping wet”.>
>The romantic soaking was later referenced in the movies Love, Actually and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. More recently, it was reimagined in the Netflix series Bridgerton.>
Firth’s boots, moleskin breeches and a velvet waistcoat were included in the auction lot, which had a pre-sale estimate of £10,000.
Why were the items on sale?>
Proceeds from the sale will go to the Bright Foundation, an arts education charity.>
Other items that went on sale in the same auction at London’s Kerry Taylor Auctions include a 1950s Christian Dior taffeta ball gown worn by Madonna in the 1996 movie Evita, which sold for £40,000.>
Johnny Depp’s Ichabod Crane costume from the film Sleepy Hollow raised £24,000.
The attire was provided by Academy Award-winning stage clothing designer John Bright through his costume house, Cosprop.>
This article was originally published on DW.>