Art Deco is a defining aesthetic of Western 20th Century style reflected across architecture, interior decor, fashion trends and popular culture of the inter-war period.  The Deco period reflects intense social change, availability of new materials, a break with tradition and a move away from the naturalism and romanticism of Art Nouveau into more recognisably 'modern' territory.

Not much has changed - that's totally me heading off to work in 2009.

Art Deco is generally thought to belong to the inter-war period, though it's impossible to nail down a perfect date at which Art Nouveau ended and Art Deco took over; the two aesthetic movements are intricately intertwined and in Europe we see many examples of an interplay between elements of each.

Important historical considerations

• WWI has just ended in 1918
• The experience of war on such a horrific scale has affected Western society and broken down social barriers and traditional strictures
• The aesthetic of the previous age had been one of naturalistic romanticism and ostentatious ornamentation
• Wartime had developed the economic machine
• Mass production and the use of new materials and designs which were more easily reproduced than Art Nouveau's arts and crafts focus
• A new preference emerges for glamour and strong, clean lines; reflecting a newly confident century moving prosperously ahead and away from the horrors of the past.

The distinctive inter-war 'look' evolved within, and was promoted by, the Hollywood movie machine as it took off throughout the period. It was a strategically put together look which left nothing to chance: eyebrows plucked, lips lined, hair coiffed and dripping in jewels.

Though Sabrina was not made until 1954, it reflects the Art Deco mood and showcases Art Deco Architecture. Just as the beginning of a stylistic movement is not a seamless transition, neither is its end.

Art Deco slowly moved away from the organic intricacies of late Art Nouveau and became a stately form of solid construction, clean lines and geometric design. Harnessing now ready to hand materials of steel and glass; Art Deco was gleaming and thoroughly 'modern'. 

It was a style built for the pace of modern 20th Century life, while offering aspirational glamour and the dawn of the Hollywood look. Those with the wealth to indulge prevailing tastes built massive Art Deco mansions and invested in smart city office towers such as the Empire State Building (built 1931) or that which we see Sabrina enter in the clip above.

The Sydney Opera House is a perfect example of the way Art Deco was used to demonstrate a forward looking perspective in a society.

The Opera House was prolonged in its construction, plagued with delays and budgetary issues, and was not completed until the 1960s. Despite it's '60s birth, the shell design and sparkling fanned glass facade overlooking the harbour are deliciously Art Deco in flavour.

In the shining towers of New York, we see a society riding a wave of prosperity throughout the 1920s, with all the vigour and energy to be expected of the 'Roaring 20s' Jazz Age.