Fred Astaire's Gift to Ginger Rogers, by Hollywood's Jeweller to the Stars

In an extraordinary career spanning over six decades, Paul Flato was Hollywood's very own jeweller to the stars - a visionary, gifted and charismatic designer, who counted Joan Crawford, Merle Oberon, Paulette Goddard, Vivien Leigh, Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich among his clientele Flato's letter addressed to 'Feathers' from Fred hints at the provenance of this piece- the legendary on-screen dance duo, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire Astaire had had various dancing partners in his already established career, but Rogers' ability to retain her acting abilities and comedic timing as she danced immediately impressed him, and an enduring partnership was born.

Astaire and Sandrich grew increasingly exasperated with the dress, but repeated attempts to convince Rogers to wear anything else fell on deaf ears - she was adamant, and the row escalated until Ginger threatened to walk off the set unless she could wear the dress As a gesture of apology after their row, and perhaps as a grudging admission of defeat, Astaire gave Rogers a gold charm shaped as a feather, and the name 'Feathers' stuck thereafter as an affectionate epithet for his onscreen partner Rogers cannot have been too irritated by her new nickname, as in 1939 she turned to Flato to design for her a pair of gold and diamond brooches extravagantly modelled as ostrich plumes.

In addition to her dancing abilities Rogers was also a talented actress in non-musical roles, keen to define herself in her own terms independently from Fred Astaire. . Source