Dolman

Arnold Constable & Company

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This dolman is made from a fine quality Indian shawl and mimics the popular bustle silhouette of the period. The motifs are beautifully matched which indicate the skills of an expert dressmaker. In the 1870s shawls lost popularity due to its immense size and the reducing expanse of skirts to help support them. Although some were retained as heirlooms, others were stitched into the more wieldy shape of the mantle.

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.

Metropolitan Museum of Art