Meet the Fans #2-Carla
"My main motivation to cosplay is driven by my love of the franchise that I make the costumes for." community ambassador Carla Lemley (Carla Croft).
Descended from Puerto Rico and featured in the coveted 20 years of Tomb Raider by Megan Marie Carla is a chameleon when it comes to her choice of costume. Her costumes are bold and challenge both her craftsmanship and audience expectations.
Alongside being featured in the 20 years of Tomb Raider magazine. She also had a feature in a Australian Verison of the Official Xbox Magazine.
With almost 15 years experience Carla began to cosplay from frequently using Tomb Raider fansites. It all began back in 2003 where she created an Angel of Darkness outfit. The idea struck after a Lara look-alike contest was featured on a page called Chuck Brite.
Since then she has produced over 13 costumes. Her most recent being Lara's latest outfit in Shadow of the tomb Raider, and a Myan priest.
One of her most recognised pieces is her pixelated Lara "I had been brewing the idea to "paint" a pixelated low res Lara for quite some time now back in 2013-2014".
Along with assistance from fellow cosplayer Faye (Neko Croft Costuming and Cosplay) creating Lara's dual pistols. Faye's previous work with her pepakura(papercraft) gave her the confidence to bring the costume together and make the vision become a reality.
"To make my mask; she used my measurements and made a perfect 1:1 ratio mask for me and guns to go with it ! after some test runs we felt that that the costume was ready to go... "I was actually expecting to be ridiculed at the convention. To my surprise, it was a GIANT hit!"
Her design brought nostalgia to fans alike and was something never seen before. It looked as though it jumped straight out of the game. Because it was so creative her popularity grew and her images became a viral sensation.
In promotion for Shadow of the Tomb, Raider Carla was selected to be one of the official cosplay ambassadors for San Diego Comic Con 2018. Carla worked with 4 other cosplayers Isaac-Tom Braider, Ray Croft, Tahnee Harrison (Love Tahnee), and veteran Jenn Croft. Invited by Megan Marie they worked across the weekend. The interactive event allowed fans to not only play the demo. But also try their luck at eating exotic animals, and have hold snakes. Carla posed alongside fans referring any questions and talking all things Tomb Raider.
"If I had to pick a moment, it was Saturday afternoon. Raymond Croft and I sat down to play the demo during the downtime of the event. When I looked up several minutes later, I noticed that ALL the ambassadors, as well as Earl Baylon (voice of Jonah), were all next to us playing in the stations! It felt like our love of the series was creating this amazing moment where we were all playing the same game together."
But breaking the norm Carla took a bold step and created a new never before done costume. She went as a Maya priest featured in the extended trailer. The most challenging costume produced with just under 3 months in development. Although not 100% complete Carla says "it is, however, my baby though so I plan on finishing it to a 100% and hopefully doing a shoot with it."
Producing a full costume from only a few angled screenshots and brainstorming she defined the expectations. It all starts as a sketch from her artwork that starts a project. "I mainly use my artistic skills (painting) to overcome certain challenges in the most complex of costumes."
These skills are what contribute to aide those on fansites and influence others. With fabrics and technology becoming more resourceful she helps others alike. She describes choosing a character to pursue further as a costume is a love behind a franchise. "My relationships to the characters also plays a great deal in my execution and choice of costume."
She turns to other fans for guidance and discussion upon the development For "when a new Tomb Raider game gets announced I love to join in on the community talks of the costume pieces and what we can expect from the finished product."
Other costumes she has created over the years include or Final Fantasy XII ( Square Enix, 2006)
and XIII(Square enix, 2009) as well as Silent Hill (Konami.1999) and Resident Evil (Capcom, 1996) . But to create the character she goes the extra mile and explores every aspect of Knowing the character through the arts. The how who and why, of their outfit.
"Painting is largely my approach at tackling most cosplays, especially when there are so many ways to make a costume. If I can paint it I can probably make it ."
In the upcoming year, she highlighted that she was "re-visiting some of the classic Lara Croft costumes that I have yet to work on such as the in-game version of Last Revelation as well as the TR 3 catsuit." Using fansites such as Lara Croft Cosplay she gets to connect with other creators to assist one another and provide constructive criticism. "There is a lot of pressure to be good even as a beginner and even more pressure "to be important" and "know important people". I think if you believe in what you do and are happy with it you will find the right community."
A unique force to be recognised within the community Carla has truly blossomed "I went from playing Tomb Raider 2 in my bedroom as a 9-year-old girl in Puerto Rico and having my life changed to joining our entire community."
"Lara Croft inspires me to ask hard questions, to venture out into the world and learn for myself. Knowledge does not come easily and sometimes we have to go in our own soul-searching in order to figure out where we are at in the world."
Carla can be found on page of 290, in 20 years of Tomb Raider. Digging up the past defining the future (Megan. M, 2016, Prima Games)
You can follow Carla's new creations on her social channels:
