There are certain things we think about when designing a new piece at Birdie & Claire: How does it feel to put on? Does it work for the Tuesday meeting and the Saturday wedding? Will you still be reaching for it two years from now?
The Kayla and Celia dresses started the same way everything does here. With a real problem that needed a better answer.
If you want to read the full story of how Birdie & Claire came to be, it starts with a wedding and a lot of shopping frustration. The short version: we searched and couldn't find dresses that worked for the women in our lives the way they deserved. So we started making them ourselves.
The Kayla and Celia styles are the newest additions to The Special Event Dress Edit, our growing collection of dresses designed for every occasion on your calendar, made to be worn again and again.
Meet The Kayla Wrap Dress
The Kayla style is a wrap dress designed to work for every season.
It has a collar at the neckline and ribbing throughout, details that give it structure and a polished finish without feeling stiff. The attached tie belt is adjustable, which means you can wear it multiple ways depending on how you feel that day. Looser for a long afternoon or cinched for an evening out.
The wrap silhouette was a deliberate choice for sizing that doesn't constrict and a fit you can adjust. If you've ever bought a dress that fit everywhere except one place, the Kayla Dress was designed with exactly that frustration in mind.
The Kayla style comes in a range of colors including bordeaux, grey, black, navy, red and green, with the palette rotating with the seasons.
Meet The Celia Square Neck Dress
The Celia style is a midi-length, sleeveless square neck dress with a relaxed fit through the midsection.
The Celia dress was designed directly in response to what customers told us. They wanted something substantial enough to wear without shapewear underneath, comfortable enough to wear all day, and long enough to feel elegant rather than casual. Celia was designed to deliver on all three.
The square neck is clean and modern. The straps are wide enough to wear a regular bra, which sounds like a small thing until you've spent twenty minutes solving that problem the morning of an event.
Because the Celia dress is sleeveless, it layers easily. Add a blazer or jacket in cooler months, or no layers at all in summer. It's one dress for multiple seasons.
Like the Kayla Wrap Dress, the Celia dress is made from EcoViscose, plant-based, Lenzing certified, machine washable, and anti-static. The weight is substantial enough that it holds its shape beautifully and moves with you rather than against you.
Part of something bigger
The Kayla and Celia dresses join the Wendy, Stephanie, and Alice styles as part of The Dress Edit. These five styles in multiple colors are designed to cover every occasion.
To reduce waste, each dress is made-on-demand by our production partner in Brooklyn, New York rather than mass produced. They are made for the person who orders it, in the size and color she chooses, with an 8 to 10 business day turnaround.
If you have spring events on the calendar, weddings, graduations, showers, work dinners, the window to order comfortably is now.
