Madame Boyd: Dressmaker to the Stars

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

Madame Boyd, 1915Spring has sprung and we can finally go outside, limitedly, and show off our new spring apparel. If you were a matriarch of the Washburn, Pillsbury or Hill families living during the turn of the twentieth century, this would be the perfect weather to strut around downtown and the many city parks with your new, customized spring dress by Madame Boyd, the dressmaker to the stars of the Twin Cities.

Born in 1847 and growing up in Seneca Falls, NY, Rose Henriette Crelly quickly gained an eye for fashion. Being one of nine children, Rose had plenty of volunteers to humor her as she sewed her way to the top of the fashion industry. At the age of twenty-three, Rose, two sisters, and her parents moved to a farm in Lenawee County, Michigan where she started her dressmaking business. Even though she was on a farm, people with a keen eye for fashion soon took note of her work, and Rose would take her business to Detroit and New York City. Being a dressmaker in New York City was seen as the pinnacle of success for many, but it wasn’t until 1886 when she moved to Minneapolis, the most fashionable city on both sides of the Mississippi, with her husband Alexander Boyd when her business really started taking off.

In an effort to gain respect and appear European, she called her business “Madame Boyd’s” and set up shop at 608 Nicollet Avenue. Madame Boyd and her forty employees were immediately the largest dressmaking company in the state, and they had only just started. Throughout the Twin Cities, dressmaking was not just another business that catered to the wealthy, it provided the second most jobs for women after domestic services. From 1860 to 1890, the number of women employed as dressmakers, seamstresses and milliners in the Twin Cities jumped from 124 to over 5,000. Madame Boyd, and others like Helen Gjertsen and Lina Christianson, sought to give girls and women opportunities to make a living on their own and teach them skills to be able to live independently. Rose always provided food for her employees if they were ever in need.

The Meyers Arcade in 1910, the year Madame Boyd moved her business out of there.

Black satin brocade gownWith the dressmaking industry on the rise and Rose at the top of it, she expanded her operations and moved down the block to a storefront at 928 Nicollet Avenue in the Meyers Arcade Building. It was during this time when her sister Julia Crelly Morse sent her daughter Florence to live with Aunt Rose in Minneapolis. Rose would bring Florence along with her on trips to London and Paris two times a year. Here, both of them would take extensive notes about the current fashion trends and buy the latest fabrics in order to appeal to more clients back home in Minneapolis. Upon their return back to the States, Rose would write to all of the major newspapers in the Twin Cities to tell them about her travels. It was a way to let everyone know who has the best fabrics and designs.

Back home, Florence would run errands for her aunt, go on deliveries, and even learned how to be a seamstress; all after school, of course. As Florence grew older, Rose was always there for her, doing anything she could to help her niece as if she were her own daughter. Along with Florence, Rose also raised two more of her nieces, and routinely sent money back to help her nieces and nephews who continued to live in Michigan and New York.

Pale blue faille and lace dressWith an aunt who made dresses for the builders of the milling and rail industries, Florence was always the most fashionable girl wherever she went. In fact, her appearance and confident demeanor attracted the eye of an up-and-coming entrepreneur in the furniture and funeral home business, Noble Rainville, my great grandfather. Now, Rose was also known to have quite the temper, especially while running her business, but fortunately for me and my dozens and dozens and dozens of cousins, Rose was quite fond of Noble and could not be happier for the young couple. Although, I can only imagine how nervous and intimidated great grandpa Noble was to meet thee Madame Boyd. After Florence and Noble got married, Rose even bought them a house that stayed in the family for generations.

Before this all happened, in 1903, my great great great aunt Madame Boyd purchased a house at 301 South 10th Street from Fred C. Pillsbury. This house would later be sold in 1919 by her husband Alexander to make way for the expansion of The Curtis Hotel. The success of Madame Boyd’s was astounding. She had so many customers that at one point she employed over 100 women to help run her thriving business. Because of this success, she moved her business to her home on 10th Street in 1910, right in the middle of where her wealthiest clientele resided. This way when Rose made house visits to take measurements and discuss materials and patterns, she would only have to walk a few blocks. Think work smarter, not harder.

The Boyd-Rainville memorial and the headstones of Rose and her husband Alexander.

The life of a dressmaker to the stars can take a toll on a person as one would imagine, and on November 24th, 1917, Madame Rose Henrietta Crelly Boyd passed away in her home and workplace that she loved so dearly at the age of seventy after a bout with pneumonia. It is tough to know how much of an impact a person has had while they’re living, but all Madame Boyd had to do was take a stroll through downtown or the many city parks and notice who was wearing her dresses. Madame Boyd was, and still is, a local fashion icon. Her legacy lives on in the collections of the Minnesota Historical Society and Hennepin History Museum where many of her dresses and other garments are located. Examples of these were on display as a part of The Art of High Style: Minnesota Couture 1880–1914 exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Art that ran from May 16th, 2019 to August 4th, 2019. If you’re interested in her work, when the Earth has healed and institutions open back up, I encourage you all to take a look at the most prestigious lifeworks of Madame Boyd.

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About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville Jr. received his B.A. in History from the University of St. Thomas, and is currently enrolled in their M.A. in Art History and Certificate in Museum Studies programs. Michael is also a historic interpreter and guide at Historic Fort Snelling at Bdote and a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment LLC, giving Segway tours of the Minneapolis riverfront for 7+ years. Contact: mrainvillejr@comcast.net. Click here for an interactive map of Michael's past articles.