Dress worn by Ginger Rogers in Top Hat, "Piccolino" number: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This dress was worn by Ginger Rogers in the “Piccolino” scene of the 1935 RKO musical comedy film Top Hat. Bernard Newman designed this long off-white evening gown embroidered with beaded sequins.

RKO’s 1935 film Top Hat was the fourth of nine films starring the now-legendary pair Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, best remembered for their Depression-era films featuring uplifting song and dance routines. Top Hat is a romantic comedy about an American dancer who falls in love with a British model. Many critics and fans consider Top Hat one of Astaire and Rogers’ best films, archetypically featuring a narrative in which a persistent Astaire chases an initially unamused Rogers until she falls in love with him, with plenty of songs and glamorous dance numbers, culminating with a joyous dance together.

Directed by Mark Sandrich and with a score composed by Irving Berlin, Top Hat stars Fred Astaire as American dancer Jerry Travers who is set to star in his friend Horace Hardwick’s (Edward Everett Horton) new musical, having travelled to London for the project. Travers is pressured into spending the weekend with Hardwick and his wife, Madge, who is eager to introduce Jerry to a friend of hers. Celebrating his singledom in his hotel room, Travers happily tap dances to “No Strings Attached,” unknowingly disturbing the resident directly below him, introducing Ginger Roger’s character Dale Tremont. Smitten with her, Travers attempts to woo Ms. Tremont, who happens to be Madge Hardwick’s friend (though neither is aware of their connection to each other through the Hardwicks). In a case of mistaken identity, and undeniable attraction, Travers spends the remainder of the film chasing Tremont while she battles her feelings for him, mistaking him for the husband (Horace) of her best friend Madge. Following an elaborate explanation and sorting of identities, Travers and Tremont join in the film’s resolution number, “The Piccolino,” in which Ginger Rogers wears this evening gown and happily ends up with Fred Astaire’s character.

Colloquially known as Fred and Ginger for their iconic partnership, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were both versed in performing arts before they became a cinematic duo. Born Frederic Austerlitz and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, Astaire began dancing at the age of four. Trained initially in ballet, Astaire later prioritized tap dancing, figuring out ways to incorporate elements of ballet, ballroom dancing, and jazz into his tap routines. Astaire grew up performing as half of a vaudeville duo alongside his sister, Adele, until she retired from performing, at which point Astaire had developed himself as a successful solo performer. Born Virginia Katherine McMath, Ginger Rogers spent most of her childhood in Missouri and Texas before getting her start in vaudeville as a teenager. The pair first met on Broadway in 1929, when Astaire choreographed a dance number for friend Alex Aaron’s Girl Crazy, in which Roger’s was performing. Following this brief meeting, the two crossed paths four years later, having both moved to California and set to co-star in their first film together, Flying Down to Rio, in which they were featured as supporting characters. This pairing was the catalyst for eight more RKO films in which Fred and Ginger starred as lead characters, and a 1949 reunion film The Barkleys of Broadway under MGM. Though their films followed a rather predictable format, their emphasis on escapism and the pre-Stock Market, Jazz Age fun and abandon were evident in their choreography and plots. Many films were set in foreign countries, playing to the idea of “mobility and modernity” as some scholars have written. Astaire and Rogers used dance as a means of expression and problem solving, which offered struggling, Depression-era Americans a brief dose of escapism and glamour.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: 1935
• wearer; performing artist: Rogers, Ginger
• designer: Newman, Bernard
• associated institution: R.K.O. Films
• maker: Newman, Bernard
• Object Name: Dress
• Physical Description: silk (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 56 in x 20 in; 142.24 cm x 50.8 cm
• general subject association: Motion Pictures
• related object association proper name: Top Hat
• ID Number: 1984.0434.01
• accession number: 1984.0434
• catalog number: 1984.0434.01
• Credit Line: Gift of Paul P. Becker
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.