Elvis Presley gave his shoes away to Alan Fortas the night before his induction into the US army. Photo / Getty Images
Elvis Presley gave his shoes away to Alan Fortas the night before his induction into the US army. Photo / Getty Images
A pair of Elvis Presley’s blue suede shoes are expected to sell for around £100,000 ($208,321).
The Suspicious Minds hitmaker wore the size 10.5 footwear both on and off stage in the 1950s, but gave them away to his friend, Alan Fortas, the night before his induction into the USarmy in 1958 and now they are to be auctioned off by Henry Aldridge + Son in Wiltshire today.
The shoes, which Presley acquired after recording his 1956 song Blue Suede Shoes, are expected to fetch £100,000 ($208,300) to £120,000 and have been authenticated by Jimmy Velvet, who was a close friend of the late singer and has been described as “the world’s leading Elvis authority”.
Alan explained how he came to acquire the shoes in a letter that will accompany the auction lot.
He wrote: “The night before Elvis’ army induction in Memphis, 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 that 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 size 10.5. I’ve owned these all these years.”
A few weeks ago, Presley’s personal Bible sold for US$120,000 at another auction.
Presley kept his Bible on his nightstand, where it was found by his cousin. Photo / Getty Images
The Jail House Rock hitmaker kept the Christian text in his nightstand, where it was found by his cousin, Patsy Presley, when she and the singer’s dad were packing up his belongings after he passed away in 1977, and it went under the hammer in the US with GWS Auctions.
The religious text has the singer’s full name, Elvis Aaron Presley, embossed in gold, and the auction house noted it “contains a large amount of book-marked pages and underlined passages that seemingly spoke to” the “King”.
Among the underlined passages is one from the book of Job, 31:24-26 which reads: “If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand has gotten much; If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness.”
The book was accompanied by a handwritten letter from Patsy, which stated in part: “Shortly after Elvis’ passing my uncle Vernon [Elvis’ dad] and I went up into Elvis’ bedroom at Graceland to organise and pack many of his personal belongings. This Holy Bible was one of three that Elvis had on his night table. After packing them Uncle Vernon had me take them home for safekeeping and eventually gave them to me.”
Presley was known for his faith and would often turn to the Bible to calm his nerves before saying a prayer ahead of a show.
