The dolman entered Western culture via Hungary starting in the sixteenth and continuing on into the nineteenth centuries where Hungarian hussars developed it into an item of formal military dress uniform.
[2] In the 19th century, Western women's fashion, a dolman was a garment which was worn outdoors as a type of jacket-style covering.
The unique construction of the dolman—cut in one piece with sleeves giving the effect of a wide cape-like structure[3]—featured elements of a jacket suited to the new styles of garment worn beneath.
[4] Its shaping to the front (with elaborate draped sections) and back cut to emphasise the new bustle style of skirt, along with the construction of the dolman's bodice and shoulders, cemented its place as a fashionable garment.
[3] Dolman were often made from silk velvet, fur, or wool for winter wear, and decorated with passementerie trimmings such as ribbons, fringing, beading, and tassels.