Elvis Presley’s blue suede shoes fetch £120,000 at auction
A pair of blue suede shoes worn by Elvis Presley during the early part of his career have fetched £120,000 at auction.
The star, known as the king of rock and roll, wore the footwear on and off stage during the 1950s, including during his appearance on the Steve Allen television show, where he sang Hound Dog.
Presley gave the size 10.5 shoes to a friend after he was called up to join the American army.
The singer had acquired them after performing Blue Suede Shoes by Carl Perkins on his debut album, Elvis Presley.
Elvis Presley’s blue suede shoes fetched £120,000 (Henry Aldridge & Son Auctions/PA) (PA Media - Henry Aldridge & Son)
The shoes were tipped to fetch between £100,000 and £120,000 when they went under the hammer at auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes, Wiltshire, on Friday.
They fetched £95,000 as the hammer price, taking the total to £120,000 when including buyers premium and VAT.
Speaking to the PA news agency before the sale, auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: “They are as iconic as they can be.
“Blue suede shoes, Hound Dog, these are things that you think of immediately when you talk about Elvis Presley, they almost transcend popular culture.
“They are just an exceptional piece of showbusiness, music and popular culture memorabilia.”
He said the shoes have an unbroken provenance line – chronology of ownership – from Presley to the present day.
Mr Aldridge said: “When Elvis was joined up for the American army he had a get together at Graceland.
“Elvis called some of these people upstairs and was giving away some of the clothes he didn’t think he’d need or want when he came back from the army.
“The gentleman concerned was Alan Fortas, he was Elvis’s branch manager and a friend of his.”
Elvis Presley’s blue suede shoes were given to a friend when he joined the army (Henry Aldridge & Son/PA) ()
The shoes have been on display in various museums in the intervening years.
Mr Aldridge said the shoes had been verified by Jimmy Velvet, a close friend of Presley and a leading authority on the singer.
Last year, the auction house sold a mink coat owned by the singer for £128,000 to a US collector.