WITH A GOBBLE GOBBLE HERE AND A GOBBLE GOBBLE THERE.

When they say that birds of a feather flock together, we had no idea what they REALLY meant.

But now we do: Feathers were the attire of choice for the trend-setting turkeys entered in our annual Dress-the-Naked Turkey contest. Among this year's nearly 500 candidates, a good portion of them came decked in the most appropriate bird wear. We had blue feathers, green feathers, pink feathers, gray feathers, purple feathers, spotted feathers and even plain ol' brown feathers.

We felt like we were sweeping up the aviary at the zoo by the time we were done.

However, we weren't feathering our nests when it came time to select our winners.

We were knocked out by a glittering ``Barbie Babe'' by Maria Saetta of West Hills, who wins the real frozen turkey (suitable for Thanksgiving dinner).

Saetta got her inspiration from the Toys R Us catalog. ``I saw the Barbie doll ads in their fancy costumes,'' she said. And, with two hours of cutting, pasting, glittering, sewing and stuffing, the rest was turkey history.

Saetta paints and sews only as a hobby, and this turkey thing was ``just for fun'' - ``I'm an engineer,'' said the 68-year-old longtime Daily News subscriber. (Yes, she plans to retire soon!)

There were hundreds of children who entered our contest, too, but we must compliment the students of Michelle Weiss' sixth-grade social studies classes at Oakwood School in North Hollywood.

Weiss used our contest as an assignment - instead of the usual oh-so-boring essay about Pilgrims - and sent in 43 of the most creative turkeys to ever strut their stuffing.

``I told them, `You're on your own, kids. I want creativity,' '' she said. ``They blew me away, actually.''

Us, too. In fact, our winner among the children's entries came from Weiss' class. Eleven-year-old Ali Levin of Studio City, who will receive a chocolate turkey, got her inspiration from her all-time favorite movie, ``The Wizard of Oz.''

``I had just seen it again, and I was thinking about it - it's my bat mitzvah theme, too - and I just decided to do it,'' she explained.

And if you look VERY closely at her entry, titled ``There's no place like home (on Thanksgiving),'' you can see Toto, too ... right there in Dorothy Turkey's basket.

Toto, Ali?

``Well, when I was 5, I went to my best friend's birthday party and we went to the bead store,'' she said. ``And I saved this charm ...''

Um, OK, so the key to this contest is: Never throw anything away ... you just never know!

And now, without further ado, we present not nearly enough of your work - as many well-dressed turkeys as we could fit on these few pages.

Congratulations to our winners and thanks to all for your creative juices. Gravy, anyone?

CAPTION(S):

35 Photos

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) Titanic Turkey

Laurel Schwartz, Woodland Hills

(2--Cover--Color) Turkey from Pleasantville

Jan Aycock, Topanga

(3--Color) Maria Saetta's ``Barbie Babe'' won her a real live (uh, dead actually) frozen turkey in our Dress-the-Naked-Turkey contest.

(4--Color) Somewhere over the rainbow, Ali Levin, 11, is enjoying a chocolate turkey for best of show among the children's entries.

(5--Color) ``Chief Tom Tom'' received his beads and feathered headdress compliments of Corey Gurley, 9, of Glendale.

(6--Color) ``Hot Stuff,'' by A. Gallagher of Woodland Hills, was all dressed up ``for some luvin' in the oven.

(7--Color) Trudi Cabrera of Palmdale put her stitchery skills to the test and quilted our turkey (we're VERY impressed!) for ``Dressed in My Sunday Best.''

(8--Color) ``Miz Drezd TcKill'' was the contribution of Irene Nathan of Reseda. Note the little pink lace bloomers.

(9--Color) ``The X-Files'' marked the spot for 11-year-old Josh Nunt's ``Roswell Turkey''. It's amazing what alien thoughts can be transmitted with a little aluminum foil.

(10--Color) Ruth L. Plym of Canoga Park feathered up for ``Camouflaged Gurtie.''

(11--Color) ``Dis Ain' Funny, Dude'' is a colorful offering from Lila Gable of Sherman Oaks.

(12--Color) Kathy Kimmel of North Hollywood was ``Stayin' Alive'' with her Turkey Manero in ``Turkey Day Night Fever.''

(13--14--Color) Mona Stroud of Canoga Park and Carol Donnelly of Van Nuys surely did not consult when they created their entries, but we couldn't resist pairing two true turkeys for '98: Stroud's President Clinton and Donnelly's Monica Lewinsky.

(15--Color) Candy is dandy, and ``Tom the Tantalizing Tiptoeing Turkey'' was proof positive. This dental nightmare is by Linda Armstrong of Tujunga.

(16--Color) Margaret Chaiet, 81, of West Hills took ``stock'' of Thanksgiving to come up with ``Tattler,'' who warned the local turkeys that ``the Pilgrims are coming!''

(17--Color) Spider-Man, Spider-Man does whatever a turkey can ... ``Web Head'' was submitted by Ness Magana of Pacoima.

(18--Color) ``That '70s Turkey,'' by Robert Nesel, 12, of North Hollywood, struck our nostalgic fancy.

(19--Color) If the Spice Girls are looking for a replacement for Ginger Spice, we have a few suggestions. Giblet Spice, by Brenda Ozburn of Van Nuys, was one of many Spice-y turkey treats.

(20--Color) Cecilia Botwinick of Van Nuys gives us a glittery ``Turkey Follies.''

(21--Color) Mazel tov to Mandi Steiner, 12, of West Hills, whose ``Kosher Turkey'' observes the 11th commandment: ``Thou shalt be unique.''

(22--Color) Hey, it's Super Mario, as dressed by Johnathon Miller, 15, of Littlerock.

(23--Color) Pasties and a g-string and a lot of sequins make ``Viva Las Vegas,'' by Stacey Conchelos of Agoura Hills, a turkey chick to remember.

(24--Color) Jeannine Jones of Sunland wants to ``Help Stamp Out Turkey Dinners'' with this turkey, which took a licking and kept on ticking.

(25--Color) ``Lah-De-Dah,'' said Grace Hampton of Burbank as she presented us with a turkey version of society and fashion editor Barbara De Witt. (Barbara was flattered, in case you were wondering.

(26--Color) Kathryn Harry, 13, of Tarzana colored us a ``Peace, Love and Turkey'' for Thanksgiving dinner.

(27--Color) This colorful ``Rock and Roll Turkey'' is the brainchild of Alexandra Yacavone of Westlake Village.

(28--Color) `Ryan Morrison, 10, of Simi Valley waxed nostalgic for the yet-to-begin basketball season with his ``Magic Turkey.''

(29--Color) Manuela Ho of Studio City created her ``Turkey That Delivers'' from the L.A.

(30--Color) Maria Johnson of Tujunga showed us that good work with colored pencils could create a memorable ``Jester Turkey.''

(31--Color) Lily Sheshebor, 8, of Westlake Village offered her own version of ``Pretty in Pink,'' complete with requisite feathers, of course!

(32--Color) We don't exactly understand why Mrs. Jack Reynolds of Van Nuys named her turkey ``Spoofer,'' but we do appreciate the workmanship.

(33--Color) ``Tiffany'' - what else! - is the work of Faby Castro, 10, of Sylmar. Faby informs us that Ms. Tiff is wearing the Victoria`s Secret $5 million bra.

(34--Color) The Granada Hills Recreation Parent 'n' Me Club combined efforts for ``Turkey Bergere,'' a glitz, glitter and feathery affair.

(35--Color) Kristine Bishop of Northridge dressed her turkey in an array of blue feathers. We were particularly amused by the pasta face and pearly eyes.