DIY Darkness

Bernice is married to Mal, long-time Goth DJ whose involvement with that world goes back to the days when Goth didn't even know that's what it was. They both have a personal style which harks back to that time, too, when the Goth scene orbited around the Batcave nightclub in London (and the other cities it visited) - a punkish combination of leather and chains, spiky backcombed hair, and round-toed boots from before New-Rocks got going and began their towering skyward ascent.

In fact I think this jacket which Mal bought Bernice for her recent big birthday from Berlin-based clothing and accessory-maker Kathrin Moravcsics -  YoungBat - has more of the Psychobilly about it than the Deathrocker, with its zebra-stripe lapels, cartoony bats and crossbones, but it does follow that one-time-universal handmade ethos that took everyday garments and customised them to death, or at deathliness at any rate. Bernice hasn't had the easiest of times over the last year or so and deserved a bit of fun.