Summertime, and the dress code is sleazy.

It's too hot right now in much of the northern hemisphere to dress up for work. Even so, some people need to take a second look in the mirror before heading for the office, the airport or anywhere in public in their preferred garb.

Americans, especially, have embraced the "business casual" dress code, first for Fridays during the summer, then often for Fridays all year long and in some companies every day now is "business casual." Many managements have decided that a "business casual" dress code is a highly valued employee benefit. And it costs the company nothing -- in dollars and cents, that is.

I will admit to being somewhat of a stuffed shirt -- or should I say skirt -- on this issue.

I've only recently acknowledged that casual Fridays are an acceptable idea. And while I have long admired fashionable pantsuits on other women, it's only in the last year or so that I have felt comfortable wearing them to work (and recently even gave a speech in one). Yet I still feel a little underdressed even in the most dressy of pantsuits.

What's the big deal, my friends and colleagues ask me.

I hate to admit it, but it must be my age and the dress code that was in force when I entered the workforce in the mid-1970s. Women then were not only reading "Dress for Success" but also adhering to it. While I can brag that it didn't take me too long to throw away those dreadful little blouse ties that were fashionable for working women, my closet remains full of suits with matching skirts for work days and pants for weekends.

Don't think me too stuffy. I don't subscribe to the theory that you have to be dressed in the corporate uniform of suit and tie and skirt and jacket to concentrate on business. I never believed that; certainly not in college when I lived in blue jeans, and not when I come into the office to work on weekends.

I also know that a more relaxed dress code does not relax the mind, because no one's mind is relaxed at Business Insurance on Fridays, which is our casual dress day for the editorial staff and one of our busiest and most productive days of the week.

My problem with "business casual" is that each summer what people wear to their jobs is less and less "business" and more and more "casual." Some people even believe "business casual" includes tank tops and shorts, which are more appropriate for the beach blanket than the public streets, let alone the office.

Let me quickly say that this column was in no way inspired by how the Business Insurance staff dresses on our casual Fridays. Instead, it was triggered by the assortment of outfits and exposed flesh and body hair I observed on people boarding an airplane recently. This flight was mid-week, heading for Chicago, so odds are not all those people were on vacation.

Can I be the only who does not want to sit in cramped quarters next to a half-dressed stranger?

With my sensitivities heightened to what some people will wear in public, I did more people-watching on the streets of Chicago on my way to work and thanked my lucky stars that some of those people -- male and female -- carrying briefcases weren't coming to work in our office in their skimpy and slovenly attire. I would be passing out cover-ups.

I am not the only one to think that some people need to take a second look in the mirror before venturing out in public places. Just last month The Union League Club of Chicago reinstated its requirement that members and guests must be attired in "business casual" for walking through the main lobby. The letter also stated that "business casual attire is defined as collared shirts and slacks without a tie or jacket for men and similar attire for women. . . .Shorts are defined as less than business casual."

I agree.

I also agree with the club's stated objective for returning to the "business casual" dress rule: "The intent of the above is to maintain your club's decorum."

Maybe the "business casual" employee benefit should be redefined as "business casual dress -- with decorum."

And I know I am dreaming, but I wish it could be applied to how people dress for air travel as well.

Publisher and Editorial Director Kathryn J. McIntyre and Editor Paul D. Winston publish columns on alternate weeks.