Lagerfeld fashion advice on Merkel's trousers, jackets

BERLIN - Top designer Karl Lagerfeld has offered German Chancellor Angela Merkel fashion advice, recommending she wear better-designed legwear -- and unbutton her jacket.

Merkel, whose typical outfit can be a single-coloured trousers and jackets got the benefit of the German-born designer's knowledge in the pages of Saturday's Focus news magazine.

Designer Karl Lagerfeld (AFP/File, Giuseppe Cacace)

The 57-year-old German leader has been mocked by some critics as a mousy bumpkin from the former East Germany, but she made headlines when she revealed a plunging neckline during an opera performance in Oslo in 2008.

"Overall her dress code is okay but the cut should be more precise," Paris-based Lagerfeld told Focus.

"And she should wear her jackets open over a blouse with better cut trousers."

Lagerfeld, who like Merkel was born in the northern port city of Hamburg, argued that this would allow her to "move with more ease".

He was less critical of the cut and colour of her blond hair which were perfectly fitting for "her beautiful blue eyes".

Merkel has sported a classic approach to fashion since becoming one of the world's most powerful women on her election as Germany's head of government in 2005, but her clothes have often been mocked for their lack of style.

She mainly follows the fashion advice of Hamburg designer Bettina Schoenbach.