This Summer You Can Visit Mr. Darcy's Translucent Shirt 

By Kelly Faircloth  |  March 8, 2016 | 5:00pm
In Depth

Please do try to contain yourselves.

The New York Times reports that in August—the steamiest of months—the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. will be putting on “Will & Jane: Shakespeare, Austen, and the Cult of Celebrity.” That exhibit will include the shirt—or rather, one of the shirts—that Firth wore for his famous Pride and Prejudice pond dip. The shirt that made Colin Firth a slightly antsy sex symbol. The shirt that launched a thousand sequels, remixes, and Etsy crafts. The shirt that, frankly, probably smelled slightly of algae and cow in real life. And man, of course.

“The shirt seemed like a celebrity object that demonstrated the kind of fun that people have with Austen as an author,” said co-curator Janine Barchas, adding that, “It exemplifies the kind of play that is central to our whole exhibition.” Generally it seems like they’ll be enthusiastically embracing the cheek:

A half-serious proposal to keep the shirt wet and molded to its display dummy by using misters like those in the produce sections of grocery stores was deemed “curatorially unsound,” Ms. Barchas said. But outside the protective glass case, the library is bracing for a humid reaction.
“We will be giving the Folger some Windex, to be used in what we anticipate will be a daily wiping-down of lipstick marks,” Ms. Barchas said.

Very excited for the souvenir opportunities.

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