• Elvis & The Rise of the Nautic Sunglasses •
I randomly had a thought the other day and somehow fell down a rabbit hole of researching when Elvis began wearing his famous sunglasses that everyone knows and loves, so here’s some interesting information I discovered! Enjoy ~ ♡
January 16th, 1971 in Memphis, TN for the Jaycees' 10 Outstanding Men of America award ceremony.
The Nautic style frames of sunglasses were made popular in the 70s through the German company ‘Neostyle’ and were created by head designer Konstantin Livas. Along with Elvis, other famous celebrities such as Ray Charles, Telly Savalas, and Don King wore the stylish frames, making them a staple of 1970’s fashion.
Elvis first seemed to discover the sunglasses in 1970 when visiting his optician ‘Optique Boutique’ on Sunset Boulevard. The shop owner, Dennis Roberts, brought out a pair of sunglasses for Elvis to try on, specifying that he should wear a pair that covered his eyebrows since it was one of the most important parts to consider when purchasing a pair of shades. He loved the sunglasses so much that he ordered five pairs of the Nautic 2 style, and three more pairs with solid gold frames (in typical Elvis fashion).
After searching through various photos from 1970, it seems like Elvis began wearing the Nautic style sunglasses sometime in July of that year. From what I can tell, they make their first appearance while Elvis is in Culver City at the MGM lot working on his new upcoming concert documentary: 'That's the Way it Is'.
July 15th, 1970 in Culver City, CA at the MGM lot for the reheresals and filming of That's the Way It Is.
Curiously enough, the famous ‘EP’ and ‘TCB’ insignia didn’t appear until December of 1970. The first appearance of the customized sunglasses looked to be at George Klein’s wedding on December 5th, 1970, with its previous appearances being the classic Nautic style without the insignia.
It is to be noted, however, that Elvis would go on to wear the two styles interchangeably over the next several years.
December 5th, 1970, at George Klein's wedding, where Elvis was serving as his best man.
At first, the sunglasses seemed to be a stylistic choice by Elvis, but in September of 1970, Elvis was diagnosed with iritis (anterior uveitis) which is the most common type of inflammation of the iris and can cause redness, pain, light sensitivity, blurred vision, and dark floating spots in the field of vision. Just a few months later in March of 1971, he would suffer from acute angle closure glaucoma while in Nashville at RCA Studio B. He was immediately treated at the nearby Nashville Baptist Hospital by Dr David Meyer. During his stay and after some initial testing, he would officially be diagnosed with secondary glaucoma.
Elvis leaving his ophthalmologist's office in Beverly Hills, November 27th, 1971.
While sunglasses had always been a part of Elvis’ fashion in the past, according to Elvis himself (and many of those around him), he would continue to wear the Nautic sunglasses to help shield his eyes from the bright lights on stage and also the flashing lights that came from the cameras.
"𝘓𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵 s𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳. "𝘔𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥!" 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳.
"𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘒𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦." 𝘐'𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘊𝘉 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘣𝘰𝘸.
"𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴," 𝘌𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, "𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳."
Elvis and Kathy (by Kathy Westmoreland)
Due to the sheer number that Elvis owned, many fans and collectors over the years have obtained a pair of the famous sunglasses. Probably the most significant auction occurred in 2018 when one of his pairs of glasses sold for a never before seen price of $130,000. They were 14k gold, chrome and plastic and much like his other pairs, were customized with his initials ‘EP’ on the front and ‘TCB’ along the sides. The sunglasses in question were worn by Elvis during his last vacation to Hawaii in March of 1977 where he can be seen wearing them in several photos while lounging on the beach with his fiancé Ginger Alden.
March 4th, 1977, in Honolulu, HI, while on vacation with his fiancé Ginger Alden and other friends and family.
Elvis Presley was nothing if not adaptable, and he showed time and time again that he was always able to make the best of a bad situation. The Nautic style sunglasses were a staple of his fashion from 1970 - 1977, and it’s absolutely synonymous with the image he created for himself during that period of time. The sparkling jumpsuits, the dark hair and sideburns, and the aviator sunglasses all come together to create an iconic image for the KIng of Rock ‘n’ Roll that is still remembered almost fifty years later. ⚡️
