Ralph Lauren’s new collection evokes 19th century.

Yet for all his historical source of inspiration, this was Lauren giving a contemporary master class in how you can simultaneously soften and dramatize black so that it doesn’t have to look stark and flat and sober, working it across many, many great (great) coats and myriad trousers. In the case of the former, that could be a gorgeous puff-sleeved, nip-waist peacoat that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a modern-day Anna Karenina (let’s hope she meets a happier ending in hers), a gilt-embroidered officer’s overcoat, or a black down jacket swathed down the front with Mongolian lamb. And as to the latter, Lauren kept the line of his pants lean and clean, either stovepipe narrow to the ankles, or matelot style with a flare that kicked out over the shoes. The palette lifted for a moment, particularly with a slew of dance dresses in gleaming Prussian blue, forest green, bordeaux, or amethyst, before heading into the dark night—quite literally—with a series of columnar evening dresses, embroidered with Chantilly lace, that swooned into hems that trailed the floor.