Within the luminous expanse of a 20 × 24 inch Polaroid, “Fashionable” reimagines portraiture through William Wegman’s signature interplay of elegance and whimsy.

Shot in 1998, the image depicts a poised Weimaraner draped in a refined plaid shirt, an arresting fusion of animal instinct and sartorial grace that lies at the heart of Wegman’s vision.

The monumental Polaroid 20 × 24 camera—one of only five ever built—shapes the work’s very essence. Housed in a refrigerator-sized body and operated by assistants, it yields singular, uncropped prints measuring 20 × 24 inches. Each exposure demands rigorous precision and immediacy, qualities that resonate with Wegman’s embrace of spontaneity and his conceptual rigor.

Here, the dog’s silvery coat harmonizes seamlessly with the muted plaid, illustrating Wegman’s adage that “gray goes with anything.” The Weimaraner’s dignified stance carries a sly undercurrent of absurdity, capturing the artist’s notion of his subjects as “always in a state of becoming something.” Bathed in soft, even studio light against a neutral backdrop, the portrait honors classical conventions even as it playfully subverts them.

“Fashionable” epitomizes Wegman’s gift for endowing his canine collaborators with human-like presence while preserving their intrinsic canine essence. The garment ceases to be mere attire and becomes a conduit between realms, creating a liminal space where viewers reevaluate assumptions about identity, fashion, and representation.

Finally, the print’s unrepeatable materiality underscores its conceptual power. Born of instant chemical processes, this singular object resists digital replication, its very existence echoing the fleeting transformations Wegman so eloquently choreographs.