Elvis Presley Outfit, ca. 1970

Appraised on: July 31, 2004

Appraised in: Memphis, Tennessee

Appraised by: Beth Szescila

Category: Rugs & Textiles

Episode Info: Tomorrow's Antiques (#917)
Memphis, Hour 2 (#909)

Originally Aired: February 28, 2005

IMAGE: 1 of 2  

Appraisal Video: (2:22)

APPRAISER: Here we are in the home of the King, and you've brought us an outfit that belonged to Elvis Presley. Where did you get this outfit?

GUEST: My husband bought it at an auction in 1975 in Germantown, Tennessee. The Jaycees auctioned it off. They went to Graceland to acquire something that belonged to Elvis, and Vernon Presley was gracious enough to give them this particular suit along with a letter that he signed saying it was Elvis's suit.

APPRAISER: Do you have any pictures of Elvis wearing this or anything like that?

GUEST: I do not.

APPRAISER: And what did you pay for it?

GUEST: My husband paid $1,250 for it.

APPRAISER: It's no secret that Elvis Presley loved clothes. And he spent a lot of money on his clothes. In fact, he had them custom made. This is a one-of-a-kind outfit. It's all made by hand and it's very well done. There are several problems that come along with trying to find the value of an outfit of any kind that belongs to a well-known person. If we had a photograph, that would be a wonderful way to find out exactly when this was worn, because it has several different values depending on if it was worn and when it was worn. Do you have any idea about when it might have been worn?

GUEST: I do not.

APPRAISER: Well, if this happened to be one of those outfits that he wore on his '68 Comeback Tour, it would be worth a lot of money-- probably about $100,000. If, on the other hand, it was probably worn later, maybe in his Las Vegas era... I've talked to several people here who feel it's probably a little bit later, probably in the late '60s, early '70s and probably for Vegas... If it was worn on stage-- and it appears to be worn because there's a good bit of wear around the neck and on the inside, like someone actually wore it and probably was quite active while they were wearing it, maybe dancing or whatever-- if he wore it at that time, it would probably be worth about $30,000. And if, on the other hand, he just owned it but never wore it, it would drop down to around $15,000. So today we really can't come up with a definite value because we need more information. But anyway, even it it's worth just $15,000, that's all right, Mama!

GUEST: That's all right. And if anyone has a picture of him wearing it, I would sure like to have it.

APPRAISER: Right.