Ginger Rogers in her Yama Yama Man costume for “The Story Of Vernon and Irene Castle” (1939)
Irene and Vernon Castle - c 1910s
Considered paragons of respectability and class, the Castles specifically helped remove the stigma of vulgarity from close dancing. The whisper-thin, elegant Castles were trendsetters in many ways: they traveled with a black orchestra, had an openly lesbian manager, and were animal-rights advocates decades before it became a public issue. Irene was also a fashion innovator, bobbing her hair ten years before the flapper look of the 1920s became popular.
Irene and Vernon Castle - c. 1910s
Considered paragons of respectability and class, the Castles specifically helped remove the stigma of vulgarity from close dancing. The whisper-thin, elegant Castles were trendsetters in many ways: they traveled with a black orchestra, had an openly lesbian manager, and were animal-rights advocates decades before it became a public issue. Irene was also a fashion innovator, bobbing her hair ten years before the flapper look of the 1920s became popular.
