The school of rock... Elvis and a £1,400 Fettes blazer
HE is fondly remembered for the over the top white rhinestone jump suits he wore on stage in the 1970s.
But now archivists at one of Scotland’s most prestigious private schools are trying to establish why Elvis Presley also owned one of their blazers.
Staff at Fettes College, in Edinburgh, have been told that the jacket has been spotted in a collection gathered from the home of the singer’s father in 1999.
The bizarre find only emerged when an online auction site based in the US recently put it up for sale with an expected price of £1,430.
PR Auction made no mention of the fact it is a Fettes blazer, but a former pupil at the £33,500-a-year school spotted the item and informed his alma mater.
And now a researcher at the 147-yearold college, which counts Tony Blair among its alumni, is trying to establish what links them and the Mississippi boy who scandalised 1950’s America.
A spokesman for Fettes College said: ‘We were utterly delighted when we found out that Elvis Presley owned and wore the distinctive blazer. An Old Fettesian living in the United States originally alerted us to the discovery.
‘Perhaps a friend of the family came to Fettes and knowing Elvis’s love of striped jackets took it back as a gift.’
The jacket was identified by its Aitken and Niven retailer label, address marked ‘79 George Street Edinburgh’. David Ferguson, managing director of Aitken and Niven said: ‘We sold these until about 20 years ago. The school have their own shop now. I don’t know how it would come into Elvis’s hands. He must have liked the colours.’