By Anya Sostek
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The offices of Meyer, Darragh, Buckler, Bebenek & Eck are those of a classic well-appointed law firm: dark wood paneling, plush furniture and a panoramic view from the upper floors of the U.S. Steel Tower.

Oh, and then there's firm administrator Carol Cottom sporting capri jeans, a beaded blue T-shirt and Mudd sport sandals.

Her attire is actually the norm on a couple Fridays a month at Meyer Darragh -- as long as employees are willing to pay $5 for the privilege of dressing casually.

Pam Panchak, Post-Gazette Regina Costain, from Weirton, W.Va., a legal secretary for Meyer Darragh, Buckler, Bebenek and Eck, participates in the Dress Down Day benefiting The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at the firm Friday. Click photo for larger image.

The firm started its "dress down days" about 15 years ago as a way to encourage its employees to donate more money to the United Way.

Since that time, the office has reserved the last Friday of every month as a casual day for United Way, and another Friday for a different charity group, or even a worthy cause such as a family recovering from a house fire.

"When we heard about Hurricane Katrina, we thought, 'We need a dress down day,' " said Regina Costain, a legal secretary there.

"It's almost like we look for things to dress down for," joked Ms. Cottom.

On Friday, proceeds went to the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society, which also is sponsoring a Pittsburgh-wide dress down day on Wednesday with a goal of raising $10,000 for the one-day event. Participating businesses range anywhere from the Horovitz, Rudoy & Roteman accounting firm Downtown to the Office Depot on McKnight Road.

The obvious benefit of such events is to raise money for charity, Meyer Darragh alone raises more than $200 for every dress down day -- amounting to nearly $5,000 per year.

But Ms. Cottom sees other workplace benefits as well. When the casual days first started, she said, there was some concern about whether employees might take a relaxed approach to their workload as well.

As it turns out, however, "there's a general consensus that casual days make people more productive, because they're more comfortable."

Often, she said, people will use the dress down days to do jobs like cleaning out dusty files -- something they might not want to do in high heels and a crisp white blouse.

But there have been a few concerns to address on dress down days.

Relatively early on, the firm decided to issue a dress code covering what should and should not be worn on casual days: jeans are fine, but plain T-shirts, halter tops and spaghetti straps are off-limits.

"We had a guy once who wore bike shorts and a gym tank top," said Ms. Cottom. "I had to call him aside and say 'That's not really what we had in mind.' "

The firm also takes care to have employees wear stickers or pins showing which charity they're supporting that day.

"This way, if clients are in, they don't think it's because this is a sloppy place," said Ms. Cottom. "They see why we are dressed the way we are."

For information on the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society's dress down day, contact Kira Foley at 412-395-2883.