Mr Darcy's 'wet shirt' from 1990s Pride and Prejudice TV hit to go on display in Scottish gallery

Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh is to display the white shirt, worn by Colin Firth in Andrew Davies’ enduringly popular 1995 BBC adaptation of the novel, as part of its Costume Couture: Sixty Years of Cosprop exhibition.

The shirt helped create one of British television’s most memorable moments, transforming a character from the classic novel into a modern screen icon, and has since become a touchstone for the period drama.

Celebrating six decades of creativity across film, television and theatre, Costume Couture offers an opportunity to go behind the scenes of one of the world’s most celebrated costume houses

Heather Carroll, exhibition manager and curator at Dovecot Studios, said the shirt was likely to be one of the most popular exhibits in the display.

“The shirt was created by Cosprop and at the time they didn't realise it was going to be so iconic. It was basically just an undershirt -because the the scene that has inspired many other scenes now and that we all have come to know - was actually unscripted.”

The famous scene does not appear in the book.

“It was actually quite a ‘in the moment’ sort of situation and of course they had to convince Colin Firth to agree to it too,” she said. “Now, it’s like, what would that scene even be like without without him splashing into the water? It's become just so synonymous with the series.

“In late 18th century British culture, if you saw a man, especially somebody from high society, in what is basically an undershirt, that was a shirt that was not meant to be seen. Lizzy would be a bit caught off guard by it. And I think as the audience, you're so fully immersed in that world at that point, that it has the same effect.”

She added: “So many people continue to watch it to this day. That’s how many first-time readers get to that part of the book and go, ‘Oh, he didn't go into the water’.”

The “wet shirt” will, of course, be dry on display.

“I was thinking of the Taylor Swift concerts where she would get like just rained on at the last song and I thought, maybe we could have a display like that,” she joked. “But unfortunately, we do have to be very careful with it and just pretend it's wet.”

The shirt is a late arrival to the exhibition, which has been running since mid-July.

“We're calling it a fashionably late arrival, much like Mr Darcy’s late arrival at the Meryton town ball,” said Ms Carroll.

The garment will be displayed alongside original designs, research, mood boards, swatches and archive photography, tracing the intricate journey from script to screen and revealing the craftsmanship behind every character.

The exhibition runs until 16 January.