What age would you say?

My Littlefee is right around the age of 4, maybe 5. Still got those stumpy limbs and body body. I think you could easily portray a LF as up to the age of 10 or 12. Of course, they're your dolls and whatever works for you works for you.

 

I can't see a LittleFee as anything but a child (11-12 at the oldest). The body has no bust, short and chubby arms and legs, a large head proportionally, large eyes low on the face, etc.

However, she could easily be younger than 14-15 and still betrothed to someone (and not want to be married to that person in the future). In some time periods children were promised in marriage for years before they actually ever met the prospective bridegroom (or bride - boys could also be betrothed early).

If you do decide to make her younger, maybe think about the unalive thing - I'm personally not very comfortable with the idea of a child trying to unalive themselves (I know it happens, but this is a very serious topic and should not be used lightly). Perhaps she could just be trying to run away and so ends up in a life-and-death situation where she needs to be saved (for example, near-drowning)?

Also, be aware that if you plan to involve the character in romance with another character that is shelled as a more mature looking doll other people may interpret it differently (I think there is even a rule on DOA against pairing dolls in a way that suggests a child-adult relationship, but I would have to check the details).

Again, it is your story - you can do what you like! These are just some things to think about.

If I were you, I would just choose a time period I was interested in and go with that. There are so many reasons why someone might be promised in marriage at a very young age: to keep property in the family, or because of someone's dying wish, or to unite a kingdom/business/etc. The reasons would cover many time periods except a contemporary one. And it sounds like your story is a fantasy tale, so it is okay if if isn't totally realistic.

I hope this helps!

 

Well, in my opinion the littlefee look like very youg children. If your character was a non-human fantasy race before turning (I gather she is human?) It would be more flexible to me in general, think gnomes and pixies etc etc. In the stylization of dolls I could see a littlefee getting away with anything up to preteen, but definitely not teen. Sadly children have certainly been betrothed at horrifically young ages (8 and 10 definitely not unheard of) and I could see it.
Please give your character a little hug for me! I hope you have fun with your doll and how she helps you with your storytelling.

 

I think a littlefee can pass for anything from a small child up to a preteen depending on styling and, perhaps more importantly, what other dolls you pair her with.
Many dolls are stylized and have an exagerated head size, proportionally to the body. If you look at head to body- ratio alone, the littlefee would have the proportions of a baby, but the doll is clearly not intended as such with their straight limbs and more child like faces. The same is true for many other dolls.
If you put a littlefee next to a doll that is clearly ment to be closer to an adult (such as a minnifee, for example, or most slim minis) that still looks like they are the same general scale, you can look at the height of the littlefee in relation to the adult and figure out an aproximate age that way.
With the exception of the fashion style dolls (their heads tend to be smaller, proportionally) and the truly realistic dolls, most dolls have proportinally large heads. Staying within the same general style is a good idea when dolls are ment to go well together.

For example, I have a dollmore Narsha, who on her own can easily be styled like anything from a four year old to a preteen when there is nothing to compare her to. I pair her with among others a Lati Blue, a Kid Delf and a couple of JID and with a bit of care she can pass for a preteen who has not yet enetered fully into puberty or started to grow tall yet. She is the little sister of one of them and she is clearly too big to be their child, since the rest of the dolls are styled to be in their upper teens or young adults. The context sells it more than the dolls proportions themselves.

 

My Littlefees are rather young, varying from about 5 to about 8, but some molds could be seen a bit over 10, but definitely not teenagers. I'm currently reading about history of women and children, and in the Middle Ages lots of children, especially girls were betrothed at very early age and often the husbands were considerably older. The earliest I read about was when the girl was only 3 years old! The arranged marriages were made for political or financial reasons, or whatever the parents considered important. The actual marriage could take place when the girl was about 14 years old or so.

 

I would say littlefee are toddler to 10 yrs old in my eyes, averaging about 6. Personally for what you're describing I would think Littlefee are too young looking, but it's your story, do what you like.

 

Betrothal can happen at any age. Look at Disneys Sleeping Beauty, where Aurora is betrothed at birth, to be married at sixteen.
In addition to this, there was (and still is in some places) a practice where you marry very young for social security and status, but don't actually live together until years later.
The extreem cases are usually conected to royalty, though. I read a report where someone had gone through the the archives of country side churches in medieval england and found out that the average age of first marrige was between 18 and 20. So context is, as ususal, important. And anything chocking and extreeem tends to be the the things repeated as the only truth, while the less scanadlous is forgotten.

 

@Fiesty_Fennec - I'm glad we could help! A riding accident sounds very plausible if you go with that (horses are beautiful, but can be so dangerous!).

I don't have plans to ever own a LittleFee, but if I did, Cygne would be it - I think her face is just lovely, so balanced, with such delicate features. I don't blame you for loving her!

Good luck with the continued exploration of her character and doll!

 

I've known quite a few people have multiple doll versions of the same character at different ages or forms. Maybe this could be the child version of her, then in the future you can have an older version, maybe Minifee Cygne. Just an idea!

 

My LittleFee are all preschoolers - they don't have an older child's build, not to me at least.



Teddy

 

I also think that a Littlefee with the Littlefee body looks about 4-6 at the max. The faces are quite stylized and can pull off a range of ages but the proportions and hands are very young.

I have a LTF Soony that I put on a Dollzone B27-004 body and I like these proportions a lot. To me she is 9-11 or so:


The one to her right with black hair is actually the one I have decided is an angry stuck-at-14-year-old vampire, haha.

You can see the same doll (with an unfinished faceup) on a LTF body here for comparison.
https://www.glaceleau.com/imgstore/16novsoonygroup1ii.jpg

To hybrid a Littlefee, you will need the headback, which Fairyland only sells together with the body - so even if you didn't want to use the LTF body that you would probably need it for that. You could also take the wrist parts to use the hands, although I think the hands are one of the parts that makes the LTF look the youngest.

If you want to go older yet - there are now a number of 1/5 scale bodies available from different companies that will easily suit Cygne's size and features and make her look like more of a teen.

 

And as for getting a headback and faceplate, and not the body, with Marketplace access you can run or join in on what's called a Split, where people agree to pay for differing parts of the order or doll, if you do decide to go that route.

 

They look 8 to me, but it depends sometimes on the face sculpt.

 

LTF Cygne in particular looks to me like a four or five year old Even if rebodied, I couldn't see her as any older than ten.

 

I’ve only ever seen Littlefee as young children. That’s what they’re meant to be. They never look older than maybe five or six.