Vail, Colorado, is an easy drive from the home of National Purebred Dog Day, and we can say with some authority that nearly 60 years later, Ann Bonfoey Taylor and her three canine companions could stroll through the chalet town today without looking remotely out of place.

But we get ahead of ourselves.

In May 1967, photographer Toni Frissell photographed Ann Bonfoey Taylor walking through the snow in Vail, Colorado, with three West Highland White Terriers gathered at her feet. Taylor wore black trousers and a spectacular yellow Mongolian sheep coat by Mabel Furs. The client, according to the Library of Congress catalogue, was Vogue.

Taylor would have been hard to miss. Her screaming-yellow coat was positively neon against the snow, while the three white terriers nearly disappeared into it, save for dark eyes, black noses and the unmistakable outlines of three determined little dogs. They are not incidental figures tucked into the background; Taylor’s leashes draw the eye directly to the trio at the center of the composition.

The Library’s catalogue title calls them “West Highland White dogs,” but its curated Walking collection identifies them more completely as West Highland White Terrier dogs. Their names are not recorded, nor does the catalogue tell us who owned them. Pedigrees and registration information are also absent, so those particulars remain in the realm of unanswered questions. And we find it maddening that the dogs were not credited.

Taylor herself was hardly an ordinary fashion model. Nicknamed “Nosedive Annie” during her ski-racing years in Stowe, she competed at Wimbledon, became an alternate to the 1940 United States Olympic ski team and instructed Army and Navy pilots during World War II. She and her husband, Vernon “Moose” Taylor, were also among Vail’s early founders and built one of the new resort town’s first ski chalets.

In other words, Frissell wasn’t photographing a woman pretending to belong on a snowy mountain. Taylor was thoroughly at home there.

Frissell was equally well matched to the assignment. The Library of Congress describes her as a pioneering fashion and sports photographer especially known for photographing women outdoors. Rather than confining fashion to carefully controlled studios, she placed women in landscapes, shifting the emphasis to women who appeared active, capable and fully engaged with the world around them. Taylor, three Westies and a Colorado snowbank were entirely in Frissell’s wheelhouse.

The dogs brought something of their own. The West Highland White Terrier standard describes a small, hardy-looking terrier possessing “no small amount of self-esteem” and distinguished by a hard, white double coat. Even without names, the trio was well qualified for the job. There is just enough terrier disorder to keep the photograph from feeling stiff or orchestrated.

We should point out that the catalogue identifies Vogue as the client, but it does not say that this particular image appeared in the magazine. Another photograph from the same May 1967 assignment—showing Taylor skiing—is specifically documented as having appeared in Vogue’s feature, “American Westerns, 1967: Mrs. Vernon J. Taylor, Jr.: A relaxed perfectionist. A great sportswoman.” Unless we discover separate evidence, we can say only that the Westie photograph was made for a Vogue assignment—not that it appeared in the magazine, let alone on its cover.

Happily, the Library of Congress has included the photograph in its Free to Use and Reuse collection, which allows us to conclude with this observation: Fashion changes, but terriers do not. Taylor’s yellow coat still commands attention, but for us, it is the three Westies that make the picture memorable.

Image: Ann Bonfoey Taylor walking three West Highland White Terriers, Vail, Colorado, May 1967. Photograph by Toni Frissell. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-tofr-34433. No known restrictions on publication