This story was originally published in the Asbury Park Press on April 3, 1988.
The store is by the ocean and Bruce Springsteen’s music is blaring outside the front door. Just by looking at the name of the store, She’s the One, taken from the title of a Springsteen song, we know that [it] has something to do with the boss.
Although it appears to be Asbury Park or somewhere along the coast, the store isn’t even located on the Atlantic Ocean: it faces the Pacific, along the California coast.
She’s the One is a popular Los Angeles store selling homemade Springsteen clothing. Across the street from Venice Beach, the 10-year-old business is run by Dari Silverman, a transplanted New Yorker.
Silverman designs shirts featuring several Springsteen songs. “Jungleland”, “Pink Cadillac”, “Backstreets” and “Thunder Road” are illustrated with images and lyrics. There is also a shirt with a Springsteen Trivia Test on the front, the answers are on the back.
A California store sells Bruce Springsteen T-shirts and more.
The most popular shirt reads: “And on the eighth day God created SPRINGSTEEN.” »
She also sells hand-painted jackets depicting different Springsteen poses. Additionally, Silverman sells all homemade women’s clothing. She designs and paints all clothing, including children’s selections.
“I remember seeing Bruce in concert in 1978 and the message I got was that this is your life and you have to go out and do what you have to do,” Silverman said. “At the time, I was head of operations for a chain of clothing stores and left that position when I realized I didn’t want to work for anyone.”
Silverman, who moved from Long Beach, New York, to Los Angeles in 1973, has been an artist all his life. She began painting clothes while a student at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh in 1967.
“I always loved painting shirts with words from my favorite songs,” she said. “The year 1967 was when everything fell apart, the Beatles, Janis Joplin, etc., and music always ruled my life.
“I link the two things together, painting and music.”
Springsteen has always been one of Silverman’s favorites, and she has followed his career since 1972, when she saw him in concert with Dr. Zoom and the Sonic Boom at Newark State College.
“I started selling shirts outside of Venice Beach in 1978,” she said. “I started with five shirts and the money I made from those I reinvested. In 1981 I moved into the store I am in now.”
Silverman chose the name She’s the One for several reasons.
“First of all, I love the song,” she said. “Then when I was selling on the beach, I would hear people say, ‘She’s the one who paints those Springsteen shirts’ or ‘She’s the one who’s crazy about Bruce.’ I was like a stopover for tourists.”
A portion of all profits from the sale of his shirts goes to the Oldtimer’s Steelworkers Food Bank in Huntington Park, California, a charity Springsteen supports.
George Cole, the food bank director, told Silverman that he had talked to Springsteen about the shirts and contributions, and that Springsteen thought it was a good idea.
“I started with the Bruce shirts because no one here really knew him,” Miss Silverman said. “I wanted to attract people to him.
“This might sound funny to people in Asbury Park, but people in Los Angeles didn’t really like him until the ‘Born In the USA’ tour.”
Visitors to the Silverman store include Cher, Tom Cruise, Sean Penn and members of the football Giants during last year’s Super Bowl. She also receives many clients from the Jersey Shore.
“I think Asbury Park would have sunk under the weight of all the people coming here and saying they’re from Asbury Park,” she said. “People from New Jersey are really blown away when they come here.”
The store is like a mini-museum, with dozens of photos of Springsteen and the E Street Band. Silverman also asks people to fill out a questionnaire asking, among other things, what their favorite Springsteen songs are and the best Springsteen concert they’ve ever seen.
“The store is a place for fans to exchange stories,” she said. “I love hearing stories about Bruce and music.”
Silverman, whose license plate on his car reads O SHESA1, gives free stickers or buttons to people who can answer trivia questions. Anyone who arrives and presents a New Jersey driver’s license receives a free bumper sticker.
“My goal is to come home and see everyone on the New Jersey Turnpike with bumper stickers from here,” she said.
Silverman does a mail order business with a catalog available at: She’s the One, 1205 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, CA 90291.
Another Los Angeles hot spot for Springsteen fans is the Boss Club, which meets on Tuesday evenings.
Based at the Imperial Gardens restaurant on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, Boss Club has been around for four years. Throughout the night, a disc jockey plays Springsteen and the artists he influenced, including Southside Johnny, Little Steven and Beaver Brown.
Many Hollywood celebrities are present. Recently, Rob Lowe was spotted with Fawn Hall, Oliver North’s former secretary. The two danced to “Glory Days” and other Springsteen tunes.
Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez and Brigitte Nielsen, among others, have been spotted at the club. Lowe, a Springsteen fanatic, is a regular.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bruce Springsteen Shirts, Best Selling on the West Coast, 1988
