One of my favourite new discoveries is Byron Bay fashion label, Bird, which is the creation of designer Rachel Bending whose ‘work pioneering sustainability in design started with Slingfings, a brand widely recognised for its environmental consciousness‘. Bending, who originally hails from the UK, studied textile design at the renowned Glasgow School of Art in the early 90s and then spent several years working as an event director for Saatchi & Saatchi in London before immigrating to Australia in 2001. Her new fashion label, Bird, is based around three different fabrics each season, all of which are designed at her studio and hand-printed using water based dyes. The result is a beautiful, eco-friendly collection of women’s wear. We have two Bird dresses to give away – including the one pictured left – to random Lost At E Minor subscribers who leave a comment under this post, or who send this post to six or more of their friends, with the name of your favourite feathered friend and a damn fine reason why you should win one. Entries close October 30 and winners will be announced below this posting.
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YOU'RE SAYING (40)
Bec said | 18 October, 2006
These dresses are unreal! I checked out the web site as well, fantastic fabircs.
My fav bird is the peacock cause they look so pretty and i want to win a bird dress so i can look pretty too. hehehehehe
Emma said | 18 October, 2006
Well, it would be really good advertising over here in Europe to have something made in AU. Plus they are beautiful… my favourite bird is the Cockatoo because they are definately smarter and cheekier than most people. They embody Australia for me.
leah said | 18 October, 2006
my favorite feathered friend right now is the peacock. i love the irridescent patterns on their feathers. i’m constantly on the look out for cool stuff reminiscent of peacocks.
i should win because those dresses would look fab on me! 
Clare said | 18 October, 2006
I love these cute little dresses! I spent an hour and a half today looking for a cool dress to wear to a birthday party this weekend… but i had no success. If I had seen one of these dresses I would have bought one! The environmentally conscious nature of the dresses just makes them even more appealing.
I don’t know whether this would also give my entry more strength but I’ll try just in case… I grew up in Ballina, so Rachel, I’m almost your neighbour! (hey, it’s worth a try)
My bird friend is named Paddy , my firend’s little yellow singing canary. He’s named such because thet found him in Padstow.
: )
Kate said | 18 October, 2006
My favourite bird is Camilla the chicken because I’ve had her for years and she’s still cranking out eggs and squawking in a cantankerous manner. And I would like a new frock because summer’s here in Melbourne and summer, as we know, is all about frocks. New frocks. New, fabulously designed, sustainable frocks.
Puno said | 19 October, 2006
I dig the chicken. The chicken has this versatile existence… from a farm animal oven mit to Burger King French Fries.
I would love to test out this frock and see how soft it really is. Most prints I find have this coarse feeling that manifests a frown onto my face. If I had a dress that felt like soft cold sheets… hot damn! I MIGHT go commando.
kim said | 19 October, 2006
my favourite bird at the moment is the spotted pardalote because they’re small and sweet.
i’d love a bird dress because i love and appreciate the fact that they are hade made in australia, and that the brand and products are environmentally conscious. also the textile designs are simple and beautiful, AND because summer’s coming and i’d love a new and pretty dress please!
anna said | 19 October, 2006
I can picture myself wearing this dress, with a floppy wide brimmed straw hat, gloves and a little shovel, whistling a tune whilst pottering in my garden. And from my position, I could watch my (co) favourite bird, the blue wren, do her/his thing. I also like pelicans. I could watch them and their enourmous gulping regurgitating beaks all day long. Go eco-friendly fabric!
Georgia said | 19 October, 2006
Any feathered friend who sports a lblue mohawk and a quick wit is a friend of mine. I picture poor Ozzie Ostrich drunk in a bar somewhere in South Amercia, claiming loudly he “made” Daryl Somers who he is. “and now, not even a birthday card” [hic]. From the classic 1976 comedy album ‘Keep Smiling with Daryl and Ozzie’ (where they’re both dressed as pirates – hilarious) to this. So sad.
I want the dress so I can pick up at the Gaslight.
Belle said | 19 October, 2006
wow! obviously i am not the only one keen to own one of these fantabulous dresses.
I too checked out the website and have fallen head over heals for ‘bird’ designs and ethos.
I was going to say my fave bird is the peacock but thinking closer to home, we have this really cute magpie who drops by during lunch time to sneek a bit of food off us. She even eats it from our hands, then pops inside into the office. Too cute.
Please pick me to win…cause it’s my birthday on the 30th…making it a monday-itis day…and this would be THE BEST, most cheerful pressie EVER!
Sarah said | 19 October, 2006
while this may sound a little absurd,
and might even come as a shock,
i, my friends, have a favourite pet bird
and it goes by the name of a cock.
my pet the cock has a secret you see
(and herein lies the shock)
for he fancies himself as the female variety
imagine that – a cock in a frock!
Melissa said | 20 October, 2006
Love, love, love the fabric and I soooo love the dress – pick me, pick me!
My favourite bird is the Albatross – I just saw one for the first time the other day and their flying abilities across the water is out of this world. I could watch them all day.
Alex said | 20 October, 2006
I’d like to fly like a bird…. maybe the dress would help.
My favourite bird of the sky is the aeroplane because it takes me to wonderful places.
michee said | 22 October, 2006
LOVE the dress and only up the road (14 hours away)….
Of course the fab textile, beautifully graphic and sOophisticated is done by a clever UK escapeeeee. Inspire us and keep up the good work.
Favourite bird…. lorikeet. Personality plus.
Ally Knott said | 23 October, 2006
My fav-o-it is the seagull…. or just ‘gull’ around here. It bullies everyone (bird, cat, car, human) and stays cool even though it knows it can’t look or sing like a robin.
I would like a dress because I dig sustainable happenings… I would look spiffy in one whilst organizing my recycled paper and bottles. The hobo across the street from me will be envious!
Katt said | 23 October, 2006
It’s hard to choose a favourite but….. the Wilson’s Bird of Paradise! They are fascinating to watch. And why do I need that dress? Well, I live in Athens (Greece) and it’s damn hard to find really pretty dresses like these. I would certainly enjoy wearing it,it would feel great!
Carla said | 24 October, 2006
Hi i dont really have a fav bird i love them all (exept when this one sick lil cockatoo kept waking me up in the morning with its shrill screams for help!).
I am studdying fashion design at the moment am am trying to come to terms with the fact that i am supporting one of the most fickle industries and destroying the environment whilst doing it. Its not only the environment that is being destroyed… thousands of people are being exploited for cheap labor aswell.
It is so encouraging to see some one doing it right and gives me hope that fashion isn’t alwas so fickle. oh and another thing… the dresses are gorgeous, not some hippy love crap 
peace
Jasmine said | 24 October, 2006
Personally, I like sparrows. I don’t own one though. I think owning one, enclosed in a cage, restrains their freedom to soar the high skies. My favourite sparrow is named Spot – in loving memory of my beloved dog – as this little sparrow has a distinct brown spot on its plump belly. Every week, on Saturdays, I would visit the park and without fail, I would see Spot with its friends on the very same branch waiting for my leftover breadcrumbs.
By wearing this dress, I could be one with the sparrows. Especially Spot. I feel that I was born to fly. Maybe I was a bird during my past life.
I somehow feel that Spot, the sparrow, could be a reincarnation of my dog. Somehow.
Zia said | 26 October, 2006
My favourite is the phoenix, a mythical bird that symbolises resurrection and new beginnings. I would love to win this dress to give to my sister, who’s been through a bad breakup, and is in need of a magical-new-beginnings dress to make her feel beautiful again.
Zia said | 26 October, 2006
My favourite is the phoenix, a mythical bird that symbolises resurrection and new beginnings. I would love to win this dress to give to my sister, who’s been through a bad breakup, and is in need of a magical-new-beginnings dress to make her feel beautiful again.
Melanie Testa said | 26 October, 2006
Western Bluebird because they have made such a good comeback with the help of the Birdhouse Network.
I would love to win the dress simply because I love the design.
ally said | 26 October, 2006
there’s a currawong living in the big gum outside my bedroom window.
he wakes me every morning with a throaty, warbling little song.
i’ve given him the rather imaginative name “curry”.
not that he asked to be named. he doesnt ask for much.
currawongs are wonderful birds. magpies too. i like their quintessential “oz” flavour. strong, a little bit raw, not too showy or ostentatious, but beautiful all the same.
ladies love dresses, and i’m no different from most in that respect.
Heidi said | 26 October, 2006
Seemlessly
Moments in passing
wake in us thoughts
that remain unforgettable.
Thoughts not yet formed
move ahead
keep passing the present.
Traces of an instant
are lost forever.
All events only happen once
new beginnings are knocking on the door.
Michaela said | 27 October, 2006
phoenix : beauteous in colour : glorious in song : the spirit that never dies
…a dress to reflect the phoenix inside… if only i could sing!?!
the bird’s items are beautiful by design : glorious in colour : with a spirit that speaks to me
Roni said | 27 October, 2006
Well it would have to be the cute kiwi – bird that is. Too bad we don’t them here in Sydney. Which reminds me! These dresses are hot and I would love to spread the word around Sydney about this great label! …mmm. Bird.
Lina said | 27 October, 2006
My favourite feathered friend is Sam the American Eagle on The Muppet Show. You should give me one of these dresses so I can wear it when they ask me to be the guest star, and Sam and I could do a feathered-friend duet together. It’d involve constructing a time machine, taking the purdy dress back in time, and somehow retrospectively contriving a famous celebrity profile for myself.
Hell yeah.
AL said | 27 October, 2006
Ze penguin!
Who couldn’t love them?
They are hilarious!
The Bird dresses are beautiful. Elegant, simple design – wicked prints.
And full credit to any designer who pushes the boundaries in terms of sustainability.
Goes without saying that I would love one.
But I said it anyway, just to be pushy.
Floss said | 27 October, 2006
I never gave ‘birds’ much thought until I moved to Australia where there are so many amazing ones to choose from. My fav has gotta be the Kookaburra! I mean it’s the best bird around; all owing to its laughter. I remember my first Kookaburra experience when I had been camping I was woken up just as dawn broke by this gi-normous sound from the treetops…… and for a moment I thought they were ‘monkeys’ (obviously still lucid as monkeys aren’t native to Australia)…anyway I remember it vividly – oops getting carried away with my story, as usual – I also get carried away with party tricks, a sad imitation of Kookaburra, being one of them… OK so I’d love either dress because my wardrobe is in desperate need of an update but equally I dig where Rachel’s coming from, anyone knows me know that I’m a greenie and will give her a good wrap whenever I get the chance, it’s just in my nature. x
Alex VV said | 27 October, 2006
I’ve recently met possibly the most special girl in my life. An exaggeration? It doesn’t feel that way, and I’ve had my fair share of flings, relationships and consortiums with powers solitary. I’ve given her a gift of sound: a new set of speakers, the best 2.1s on the market, Logitech Z-2300s, when before she just had dinky iBook ones. She’s a sounds->colours synaesthete so it literally opened a new world for her. Tomorrow, at her best friend’s birthday party, I am surprising her with a dozen roses, and this is the gift of smell. I want to give her one of Bird’s dresses, because she loves things made out of found objects, and the philosophy behind your design reflects this. This will make a gift of sight…
She wants to one day have a pet raven. Apparently they take care of themselves, mostly. You let it out, and it comes back at night. You have to get it from the egg, and I’ve been unable to locate a raven breeder so far in Australia. As this is for her, I’ll put the favourite as that.
Anita said | 28 October, 2006
My favorite bird is my budgie his name is Mr Barushki.
He told me I would look hot in a bird dress… he really does talk.
I want the dress impress my budgie.
Elizabeth said | 28 October, 2006
oh, ephemeral birds.
i’m so ready to join your flock.
beautiful gorgeous dresses.
i would feel like a cupcake princess in one.
zu said | 28 October, 2006
when i was growing up as a single child, my hippy parents shipped me off to my grandma’s farm on more occasions than humanly possible. there i met my first best friend. the chicken. or actually a whole flock of chickens. i played schoolhouse with them, chased them, pulled their tails, and pretended they were ponies, basically chickens and hens were my only playmates for the first few years of my life. at the age of one and a half i drew the first recognizable sketch: also a chicken.
and the chickens remain my favourite birds to this day.
i want to win the red dress to attract the attention of chickens (red is the only color they can apparently see)
Dittmar said | 28 October, 2006
Well my favourite is Big Bird because Jim Henson must have been on crack whilst thinking up that character. ha!
My damn fine reason? Well I’m a guy and I’d still look good in the dress. Ok maybe it’s to give to a girl…..maybe.
Elizabeth said | 29 October, 2006
Favourite bird ….Birdy num -num
How I would feel wearing one of these fabulous dresses….Birdy num num
Ashlea said | 30 October, 2006
Favorite Bird- Osprey.
Because i dont think they’d afraid of much.
They’re nests are awesome. And they only ever have one. And they just renovate each season. Thats commitment for ya.
Ashlea said | 30 October, 2006
Because i dont think they’d afraid of much.
They’re nests are awesome. And they only ever have one. And they just renovate each season. Thats commitment for ya.
Commitment that i understand only to well.
Once impressed by a label.
Im a loyal and dedicated customer.
Being a vegetarian i am inspired by the friendly process in which these dresses seemed to be produced.
peace
Zolton said | 30 October, 2006
thankyou for all the awesome entries for this! great to see so many people digging the bird label. we have literally, randomly selected two winners for this … melissa and bec! congrats to you both. please email me with your contact and size details asap. we’ll have another clothing giveaway running on lost at e minor very soon, so keep checking in on the website.
gemma allen said | 16 November, 2006
the wandering albatross is my favourite bird.It is awesome,just like your label.
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Ian M. said | 18 October, 2006
want to win this for a female friend so i can get in her good books!! the willie wagtail because they are cheeky lil bastards!! ;]