The Southwest
Costumers Guild
is a loose and informal
educational society of persons interested in all
facets of historical, cultural, science fiction,
fantasy, and humor costume and cosplay. Members are
often seen on stage and behind the scenes at Science
Fiction Convention masquerades, historical
reenactment events, street fairs and theatre. SWCG
is central Arizona's chapter of the International Costume
Guild.
Our Website is now hosted by Costume.org!
E-mail us at: southwestcostumers@gmail.com.
Index
Newsletter
Costumers Calendar
SWCG Activities
Links
- Web Sites of Interest to the Costumer
Hints and other "How To"
Articles
Randwulf's
Smartphone Pouch - Free sewing pattern from
SWCG VP Randall
Join the
Southwest Costumers Guild
Recruiting and PR Materials:
"Renaissance Faire"
Foldover Flyer
(Featuring a practical belt pouch pattern)
Quarter-Page Flyer
Bookmark
SWCG
Bylaws
SWCG members receive our
newsletter, "Cactus Needles" by
e-mail.
A few weeks after its initial publication, we
post Cactus Needles to this website for all to
enjoy.
Current Issue - May
2025
Back
Issues (All the way back to the
Cactus Needles premiere in 1994)
Cactus Needles is released under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No
Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please
print the newsletter and give it to your friends,
but print the entire newsletter and don't make any
changes or charge any money. Go to www.creativecommons.org
to view the license. Individual articles and
pictures belong to their authors. If you'd like to
reprint an individual article or picture, please
e-mail southwestcostumers@gmail.com
for appropriate permission.
The
Southwest Costumers Guild usually meets one
Saturday afternoon per month at a members' homes or a
public venue like a restaurant or museum
in the
greater
Here are some upcoming
guild meetings and costume-related public
events. Red Text
and an asterisk* indicate an SWCG
activity. Unless otherwise noted, SWCG Meetings
begin at 1:00 PM.
E-mail the Webmaster
if you know an Arizona costumed event
that should be on the calendar.
PhxArt‘s first major investigation into the formation of our renowned fashion collection. With more than 80 garments and accessories, Greatest Fits (Vol. 1): The Art of Archiving Fashion begins the series by tracing the evolution of the Museum’s collection from its founding in 1966 to the present day.
May 24,
2025 - Boot Forms*
at Tasha's place. We'll experiment with doing foot and
leg casts using a special resin gauze to help design
fitted shoes and stockings. E-mail the Webmaster
for directions. southwestcostumers@gmail.com
May 24 and 25, 2025 - King-Con
at Mohave County Fairgrounds. https://azfandom.org/cons/kingcon.html
June 6-8, 2025 - Phoenix
Fan Fusion at the
Phoenix Convention Center.
https://www.phoenixfanfusion.com/
June 14, 2025 - Reboot*
at Tasha's place. We'll experiment
a bit with the the foot castings
from April.
June 21, 2025, 9-5 - Fabric
War at Glendale
Civic Center. The SCA Barony
of Sundragon's annual swap meet of
costumes, costuming supplies and
other stuff of interest to the
modern medievalist along with arts
and sciences events and the famous
fabric melee. Look for some SWCG
folks as participants. https://www.atenveldt.org/news/fabric-war-2025/
July 11-13, 2025 - Medieval
Mayhem Renaissance Faire
at Frontier Field Park in Show
Low, Arizona. https://www.azmayhem.com/
August 8-10, 2025 - Bisbee
Pirate Weekend
centered around City Park at 62
Brewery Avenue, Bisbee, Arizona
August 29-September 1, 2025 - Saboten
Con at Sheraton Grand
Phoenix Downtown, 340 N. 3rd
Street, Phoenix AZ https://www.sabotencon.com/
August 29-31, 2025 - Tucson
Comic Con at Tucson
Convention Center, 260 South
Church Avenue, Tucson AZ. Guests
include Author Gail Garriger,
Artist Liz Danforth and Musicians
Jeff & Maya Bonhoff. https://tucsoncomic-con.com/
November 7-9, 2025 - TusCon
52 at the DoubleTree
Suites by Hilton Hotel Tucson
Airport, 7051 S. Tucson Boulevard,
Tucson, Arizona. Guests of honor
include Gail Carriger, Liz
Danforth, Jeff & Maya Bonhoff,
Linda Addison and Madame
Askew. https://tusconscificon.com/about-tuscon/
January 17, 2026, 10-3 - Tempe
FanCon at Tempe Public
Library, Rural Road & Southern
Avenue. Comic and cosplay fans
grab your capes and superpowers
and come to the Tempe Public
Library for a celebration of
comics and pop culture. Join us
for free family fun including
costume contests, authors and
artists, entertainment, activities
for the kids, photo ops with
characters, fandom related items
for sale, and food trucks. There
is no table fee for exhibitors and
the event is free and open to the
public. The event will be held
outdoors in the Library Plaza.
Look for a Southwest Costumers
Guild meet and greet booth among
the exhibitors.
Here is the book list for early 2025:
May 20, 2025 – The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older
June 17, 2025 – The Masquerades of Spring by Ben Aaronovich
Guild Activities
SWCG hosted Costume-Con
30 on May 11-14, 2012 at the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel.
Click the link to see some pictures from the "Sick Pups"
archive.
Meet & Greet table at LibCon West in December 2024.
Our first get-together since the pandemic - a simple diner luncheon.
Randall, Tasha and Paula at Tempe Library ComiCon in 2018
At Steampunk: An Exquisite Adventure in November, 2013.
Randall & Jean at Steampunk Street II in downtown Mesa, April, 2011.
We had a fine turnout for our Barbecue Mixer in April, 2009, with folks from SWCG, Sunacosu,
CASFS, Arizona Ghostbusters and The Rebel Legion. Photo by Mike Contos.
At the Arizona Renaissance Festival, February 2008.
Walking about the Glendale Glitters street fair in December, 2007.
A Duct Tape Mannequin is a
useful tool for patterning custom-fitted garments.
Mucking about in Victorian attire at CopperCon 25. A little image magic by Mike Cassidy shifts us to a more appropriate setting - a table setting.
Updated May 11, 2025 by Randall Whitlock.
Direct correspondence to:
Randall Whitlock, Webmaster
Southwest Costumers Guild
2320 West Seldon Lane
Phoenix AZ 85021