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Recognising the recent surge of interest in austerity aesthetics across contemporary culture, this two-day conference will explore the effect of post-war austerity on the appearance of people and cities.The Look of Austerity seeks to challenge myths surrounding the immediate post-war period, not least those that have grown up around Dior's New Look.A number of separate speakers consider developments that anticipated this new opulence, or trace the complex ways in which the New Look was represented, disseminated, copied and understood. Other contributions focus on the relationship between European fashion culture and the increasingly significant influence of American glamour and style, particularly in the images of affluence and optimism projected by Hollywood.The conference also investigates the everyday experience of making, buying and wearing clothes in post-war austerity, examining everyday cultures of repair, recycling and second-hand clothing in different European contexts.Programme: http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/files/8314/3955/2430/Look_of_Austerity_conference_programme-08-2015.pdf