BROOMSTICK BEAUTY; DARK IMAGE DOESN'T MATCH THE THOROUGHLY MODERN WITCH.

Byline: Barbara De Witt Daily News Fashion Editor

In the City of Angeles, there are more than 3,000 dues-paying witches, and they're tired of being stereotyped.

Honest, they don't always wear black.

Present-day witches go to beauty parlors and dermatologists like the rest of us, so it's unlikely you'll see a card-carrying witch with green skin or hairy warts.

And in the local Santa Monica Mountains, you're more likely to see them dancing barefoot in the moonlight in dainty green dresses than in black smocks with pointy shoes.

Sure, they still wear black on Halloween night - it's their annual black-tie affair, after all - but witches have been cursed by Hollywood.

They didn't always look grotesque like the hump-backed creatures in ``Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' or like the Wicked Witch of the West in ``The Wizard of Oz.'' Back in ancient Rome, witches were likened to pretty fairies, wood nymphs and Pomona, goddess of fruits, which is why the witches of the Topanga Canyon coven prefer pastel green gowns with pointed hats trimmed in locally grown sage and apple branches, said Christine Dzilvelis, chairwoman of the second annual Enchanted All Hallow's Eve Revel, a celebratory fund-raiser for the Santa Monica BayKeeper.

The event this weekend and next in the historic Hollywood American Legion building is a benefit for the BayKeeper's work of protecting beaches from Palos Verdes to Ventura, and organizers are working hard to create an old-fashioned Halloween adventure with guided tours to a witches' grove, a Victorian seance and a visit to Transylvania. The event also will include children's programs during the day with special guests Joanie Bartels and Mark Lewis.

So what do you wear to an All Hallow's Eve revel?

``Witches are an evergreen favorite,'' said Judy Meyenhofer of the national Sewing Fashion Council in New York. ``All the major pattern companies have several variations of witch costumes, and Butterick even makes one for a dog.''

If you can't sew, you can buy or rent a witch's wardrobe. At Western Costume Co. in North Hollywood, there are 20 different types of witches, ranging from scary to sexy, said Susan Saldutti, Halloween costume coordinator. And Enoch Jim, assistant manager of Cinema Secrets in Burbank, carries eight styles, plus a makeup kit with a latex nose with warts and green foundation.

Why the green face?

According to Jim, ``Witches are known to be evil, and green in considered an evil color.''

But Maggie Murray, costume expert for the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, offered another suggestion. ``Traditionally, witches have green faces because it's the color of corpses, and they were associated with death,'' she said.

The pointed hat ``was a common style of the medieval period, referred to as a `hennin,' so I doubt there's any special meaning attached to it.''

But before you top your ensemble with a cone-head hat, consider that not all witches have a taste for the trite.

According to Ventura County ghost expert Richard Senate, many witches still dance naked under the moon - he's seen them - and he says they call it being ``sky-clad.'' He adds that the reason is to be closer to nature, to the heavens.

When asked what real witches wear, Lady Brenda Matarazzo, high priestess of the Grove of the Green Cobra, Temple of Wicca (it's the Anglo-Saxon word for witch) and Druidism in Riverside County, laughed and said today's witches buy off the rack. They wear regular clothing, like TV's ``Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,'' but wear special clothes for their religious holidays.

``Even today, witch costumes differ from coven to coven,'' she explained. ``My group wears different-colored robes for different occasions. For instance, on Halloween we'll wear black, but other times we wear white or green robes tied at the waist with a cord,'' said Matarazzo. And the cord colors are based on the degree of experience: brown-and-green for entry-level witches; white for second level and black for third or higher levels.

Mary Kara, owner of the Psychic Eye in Sherman Oaks, has also studied the history of witch costumes and claims that witches dress according to the seasons, favoring bright colors in the spring - just like most women.

Regardless of their coven's dress code, witches are big on accessories. While Samantha on TV's ``Bewitched'' preferred pearls, most witches wear silver jewelry, which is considered the metal of the moon. Said Matarazzo, ``We also wear a lot of rings, as well as necklaces of amber and jet. And the pentagram, or five-pointed star, is a favorite pendant choice since it represents a human standing in the circle of life ... but Satanists (those who practice evil) have used it upside down to represent the horns of the devil.''

More folklore fashion tips:

Although pointed hats are a classic, early witches probably wore cloaks with hoods, Matarazzo said. It was black and easily disguised the person in the dark so villagers couldn't recognize them.

Jill Kirsch, owner of the Color Co. in North Hollywood, thinks black is the perfect color for night life. ``It blends into the night, is slimming and has always had a sense of drama,'' she quipped.

Now, about those brooms and black cats.

Witches didn't really fly around on brooms, but the broom, called a besom, is a tool for the high priestess. It represents the home and hearth, said Dzilvelis.

Besides the broom and the cauldron (used for burning incense), many witches have cats. They're not the devil in fur, but are considered magical companions.

And by the way, according to history books it was the Christians who burned black cats - not witches.

THE FACTS

What: Enchanted All Hallow's Eve Revel.

Where: American Legion, 2035 Highland Ave., Hollywood.

When: Children's events at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday; adult events at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and Oct. 30 and 31.

Price: Adults, $16.95; children, $13.

Call: [phone].

CAPTION(S):

14 Photos

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) For little witches on the trick-or-treat trail, this glittery costume from Mervyn's California is priced at $20.99.

(2--Color) Many present-day witches still favor romantic European ensembles like this sea green chiffon number with an aqua cape worn by the Wise Women of Venice coven.You can see more witch costumes in the witches' grove at the Enchanted All Hallow's Eve Revel, which opens Friday night at the historic Hollywood American Legion. For tickets, call [phone].

(3--Color) Glamour witch costumes like this one are always popular, say costume-shop owners. To scare away dark spirits, add black onyx beads. And carry a flashlight.

(4--Color) The witches of the Topanga Canyon coven wear milkweed green gowns with hats adorned with locally grown sage and apple branches.

Christine Dzilvelis/Special to the Daily News

(6--Color) Bette Midler is dressed for drama in ``Hocus Pocus.''

(7--Color) Elizabeth Montgomery dons a ladylike suit in TV's ``Bewitched.''

(8--Color) In ``Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,'' the witch wears a traditional cloak instead of a pointy hat.

(9) Angela Lansbury wears tweeds instead of black in ``Bedknobs and Broomsticks.''

(10) Anjelica Huston favors a big nose and hairy chin in ``The Witches.''

(11) Stylin' in ``The Witches of Eastwick'' are Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer, who played opposite Jack Nicholson's devil.

(12) Glinda the Good Witch in ``The Wizard of Oz,'' favors pastels.

(13) The Wicked Witch of the West goes for basic black.

(14) Melissa Joan Hart is a shop-till-you-drop witch in TV's new series ``Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.''