Elvis Presley’s actual blue suede shoes fetch six figures at auction
It’s one for the money.
Elvis Presley’s iconic blue suede shoes walked off the auction block Friday at a hip-shaking six-figure price that echoed the huge footprint The King left on Rock n’ Roll. The pair, which Presley bought after his song of the same name rocketed up the charts in 1956, sold for about $120,000 — slightly below the auction house estimate between $126,000 and $151,000.
“They are as iconic as they can be,” said the auctioneer Andrew Aldridge of Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes, Wiltshire, England.
“Blue suede shoes, hound dogs, these are things that you think of immediately when you talk about Elvis Presley, they almost transcend popular culture.” The ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ singer donned the famed footwear throughout the 1950s – including during that infamous performance when he sang “Hound Dog” to an actual hound dog on early television.
Presley bought the famous footwear soon after the release of his cover of “Blue Suede Shoes,” which was originally by Carl Perkins. It reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1956. The catchy tune was even designated as one of the 500 songs that helped shape Rock music by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Eventually, the singer, who was known for his many flamboyant possessions — like his pink Cadillac and collection of flashy jumpsuits — gave the size 10.5 shoes to his long-time friend Alan Fortas the night before his US army induction at his Memphis home, ‘Graceland’.
A letter from Fortas to the auction house says, “Elvis had an all night party at Graceland. Afterwards we went to the Rainbow roller rink. When we all got home Elvis called some of us upstairs and was giving away some of his clothes he didn’t think he would be wearing or wanted when he came back from the army. That night Elvis gave me these blue suede shoes — I’ve owned these all these years”
Prior to being sold, the shoes were on display in various museums.
