Even on the Job, They Preen for Halloween : Celebration: Many workers got a head start on the fun by going to work in costume Friday.

There were scientists dressed like ghouls, secretaries dressed like clowns, a manicurist dressed like a mermaid, a banker dressed like a doctor. Throughout the South Bay on Friday, people were showing up at work in most un-worklike attire.

The reason, of course, was that Friday was the last regular working day before Halloween--the one time of the year when even serious professionals are allowed to look a little silly.

“You can come to work normal and professional-looking every day,” said Betsey Foley, 30, an environmental scientist for the Port of Los Angeles who was decked out in a Pinocchio costume featuring a four-inch nose. “This is a way to be a little creative for a change. I do it every year. Last year I came as a gumball machine.”

Foley was only one of about a hundred port employees who came to work at the administrative offices in San Pedro dressed in Halloween garb. Like many local workers, they were competing in an employee Halloween costume contest, with the winner receiving a sweat shirt or a jacket and, more importantly, bragging rights for the rest of the year.

“I actually drove to work this way,” said Teresa Gioiello, 24, a Port of Los Angeles secretary who was wearing a red-and-white polka dot clown suit. “You get a lot of looks. And after I got here I heard a little snickering. I’ve heard a lot of ‘Quit clowning around.’ ”

As at most offices, the port’s Halloween-attired were far outnumbered by those who lacked the holiday spirit. One non-costumed employee was Mike Levitt, 51, a special events coordinator who said he used to dress up for Halloween. The last time, he said, was 15 years ago, when he came to work dressed in combat boots and his daughter’s pink ballerina tutu.

“That put an end to the Halloween costume contest for several years,” Levitt said.

“Employers see (dressing up for Halloween) as an easy way to boost morale,” said Sue Hayter, a public relations representative for the port. “And it’s fun.”

One South Bay employer who mixed Halloween fun with Halloween business was Cinde Car, 35, owner of Hairline beauty salon in San Pedro. Car, who came to work dressed as an elephant, expected to spend most of her working time this weekend applying special Halloween makeup to her customers.

“I love Halloween,” Car said. “Between now and Sunday we’ll probably do about 50 people in Halloween makeup. Today (Friday) they’ll be going to work, and tomorrow night they’ll be going to parties. We’ll be open Sunday and we’ll have a lot of kids coming in.”

Some people managed to look as if they were dressed for Halloween even if they weren’t. Vicki Fayazza was getting a manicure at Hairline--from a mermaid-costumed manicurist named Dawn Grider--when someone complimented her on her Halloween costume, a snappy-looking blue-and-white sailor suit. It turned out that she works as a cruise hostess for Royal Caribbean cruise lines and was wearing her usual uniform.

“That’s OK,” she replied, laughing. “I’m used to hearing that this time of year.”

Some Halloween celebrants opted for cross-occupational-dressing.

“I just wanted to get in the Halloween mood, and make people smile,” said John Hough, 31, a financial management adviser at Great Western Bank in Torrance; he wore green surgeon’s scrubs with a stethoscope hanging from his neck. “I do it every year. People seem to like it.”

People may not object to getting financial counseling from a person dressed as a doctor. But they probably wouldn’t have gotten the same feeling of confidence from Hough’s costume last year.

“Last year,” he said, “I was a hippie.”