SWCG LogoThe 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. Members are often seen on stage and behind the scenes at Science Fiction Convention masquerades, historical reenactment events, and theatre. SWCG is Arizona's chapter of the International Costume Guild.




Index
Newsletter
Upcoming Events
SWCG Activities
Meet the Guildsters - Mail Links and links to Member Web Pages
Links - Web Sites of Interest to the Costumer

Hints and other "How To" Articles

Join the Southwest Costumers Guild - Printable membership form

Recruiting and PR Materials:
"Victorian Ball" Foldover Flyer

"Science Fiction Convention" Foldover Flyer

"Renaissance Faire" Foldover Flyer

Quarter-Page Flyer

Color Bookmark


SWCG Bylaws

Southwest Costumers Guild has a "Yahoo Groups" e-mail discussion forum. Contact the webmaster for information on how to join.


Cactus
            Needles Logo

Click the links below to view issues of Cactus Needles, SWCG's monthly newsletter. You'll need the Adobe Acrobat reader, available free from www.adobe.com.

Creative Commons License 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 contact the Editor for appropriate permission.

Current Issue - May 2013

Back Issues
(All the way back to the Cactus Needles premiere in 1994)

Upcoming Activities

Usually, the Southwest Costumers Guild meets on the last Sunday of each month at a different member's home in the greater Phoenix area. This rule of thumb is often changed to avoid schedule conflict with other events. Guild business is followed by a demonstration or workshop by a guild member or an invited guest. Sometimes we cooperate on a costume project. Sometimes we just socialize. Special SWCG gatherings are sometimes held at science fiction conventions, street fairs, and other public events. E-mail the Webmaster for directions to meetings and events.

Here are some upcoming guild meetings and costume-related public events. E-mail the Webmaster if you know an event that should be on the calendar. A more detailed calendar is included in Cactus Needles.

* Red Text indicates an SWCG activity. Unless otherwise noted, SWCG Meetings begin at 1:00 PM.

March 2 – July 14, 2013 – Digital Print Fashion in the Ellman Fashion Design Gallery at the Phoenix Art Museum.

May 17-20, 2013 – Costume-Con 31 at the Red Lion Denver SE in Aurora, Colorado. A whole weekend for costumers and costumes! http://cc31denver.com/


May 17 – June 2, 2013 – The Pirates of Penzance at Fountain Hills Theater, 11445 N. Saguaro Blvd. Fountain Hills, AZ. Gilbert & Sullivan & Steampunk! Thursday, Friday & Saturday @ 8:00PM / Sunday @ 2:00PM http://www.fhtaz.org/

May 19, 2013 – Masks!* SWCG Workshop. Location TBA. Robin has a cool mask construction technique that even works with eyeglasses.


May 23-26, 2013 – Phoenix ComiCon at the Phoenix Convention Center and Hyatt Regency Hotel, Phoenix AZ. http://www.phoenixcomicon.com


June 9-16, 2013 – Highlands War in the Apache National Forest, near Alpine, Arizona. The SCA Barony of Ered Sul’s annual get-together in the cool pines. http://highlandswar.org/

June 23, 2013 – The MIM*  SWCG Field Trip to the Musical Instrument Museum at 4725 East Mayo Boulevard, Phoenix. This museum features not only musical instruments from all over the world, but the costumes worn by the musicians who play them. http://mim.org/


June 29-30, 2013 – Costumers Lost Weekend at the Crowne Plaza Addison hotel in Addison, Texas. Presented by the Dallas-Fort Worth Costumers Guild. http://www.dfwcg.org


August 1, 2013, 7PM - CopperCon Revolution Presents 2001 A Space Odyssey w/ Plan 9 From Outer Space at Pollack Tempe Cinemas, 1825 E Elliot, Tempe AZ. 2001 will start at 7PM with Plan 9 From Outer Space starting at 9:30 PM. You wanted the best science fiction films of all time and were giving them to you in one sitting. Tickets for the showing are $10 to the general public and $5 with a membership to CopperCon: Revolution which will happen August 8th-11th 2013. Tickets can be purchased ahead of time at http://casfs.org/cucon/2013/02/special-screening-2001-a-space-odyssey-wplan-9-from-outer-space/


August 8-11, 2013 – CopperCon 33 Revolution at the Windemere Hotel & Conference Center  in Mesa, Arizona. http://www.coppercon.org .


August 17, 2012 – Can’t Stop the Serenity - Tucson Annual charity screening of Joss Whedon’s “Serenity” and “Dr. Horrible’s Singalong Blog at the Fox Theater, 17 West Congress, Tucson, Arizona. http://azbrowncoats.org/


September 28 & 29, 2013 – Keen Halloween at Sano Fitness Studio at Metrocenter Mall, 9617 North Metro Parkway West, Suite 2004, Phoenix AZ. This is a kind of makers’ faire for Halloween crafters. http://www.keenhalloween.com/


October 4-6, 2013 – Browncoat Ball – at the Coastal Phoenix Sky Harbor Hotel, 4300 E. Washington Street in Phoenix. The Arizona Browncoats will host the Browncoat Ball, an annual gala in celebration of Firefly, Serenity and the other works of Joss Whedon.
http://www.browncoatball.com



October 18-20, 2013 – Helldorado Days in Tombstone, Arizona. http://www.tombstonechamber.com/Helldorado-Days-84th-Annual


November 2, 2013 – Run For Your Lives Zombie 5K at Wellington Ranch, Sacaton AZ. http://www.runforyourlives.com/locations/arizona/


January 16-19, 2014 – DarkCon 2014 at the Phoenix Airport Marriott, 1101 North 44th Street, Phoenix AZ. http://www.darkcon.org


March, 2014  – Hollywood Costume exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum, Central Avenue & McDowell Road. Bringing together more than 100 of the most iconic movie costumes from across a century of film-making, this will be a rare opportunity to see the clothes worn by unforgettable characters from films such as The Wizard of Oz, My Fair Lady, Superman, Titanic, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and The Dark Knight Rises. Hollywood Costume will explore the central role costume design plays in cinema storytelling. The exhibition contains costumes that have never left private and archival collections in California, and most have never been publicly displayed or seen beyond the secure walls of studio archives.

 


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Here is some of our events information in the form of a Google calendar created by Margie:



Guild Activities

SWCG hosted Costume-Con 30 on May 11-14, 2012 at the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel. Check out professional photographer
Richard Man's images from the event at http://www.rfman.com/SF-and-Fantasy-Conventions/Costume-Con-30 .

Jean & Randall
        at Steampunk Street II
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.


Meet the Guildsters - Mail Links and Web Pages

Click on the highlighted text to send an e-mail message or visit a personal web page.

President Robin Prosje
(president@southwestcostumersguild.org) .

Vice President Mike Contos
(vicepresident@southwestcostumersguild.org)

Treasurer Margaret Grady
(Treasurer@southwestcostumersguild.org)

Secretary David Ramirez
(Secretary@southwestcostumersguild.org)

Archivist Jean Palmer
(archivist@southwestcostumersguild.org)

Webmaster and Newsletter Editor Randall Whitlock runs MoiRandall's featuring his "Randwulf's" line of sewing patterns.
webmaster@southwestcostumersguild.org).

Member Anna Caggiano shows how she built her Galadriel gown at www.fivemilecreek.net/anna/anna.htm.

Check out member Nola Yergen's theatrical and film costumes at http://designbynola.com/  or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Design-By-Nola/128444573852616

Last updated May 14, 2012 by Randall Whitlock.

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