Angela Merkel’s fashion impact

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s fashion choices have generated a lot of commentary during her tenure

(SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FASHION DESIGNER GUIDO MARIA KRETSCHMER, SAYING:"And one has to say that she has now worn the trouser suit long enough for its revival. It was gone for a long time and now it is totally trendy again…"

For 16 years, Merkel has met global leaders

attended parliament

and gone about her business

in an array of smart colorful trouser suits

(SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FASHION DESIGNER GUIDO MARIA KRETSCHMER, SAYING: "What should she have worn other than her 'look' she was always with men, was she supposed to come in a skirt suit? I think it was good, the way she did it. Now she can wear her necklaces or hang out in her tracksuit or go wild if she wants.”

She also made headlines wearing plunging necklines to cultural events

Merkel once noted the hypocrisy in the sartorial scrutiny

QUOTE: "For a man, wearing a dark blue suit for a hundred days in a row is no problem at all, but if I wear the same blazer four times in two weeks, citizens write to me." –Angela Merkel to Zeit newspaper, January 2019

The woman from the former Communist East

has done more than her detractors ever expected

and some even say that her feminine charm aided in dealings with world leaders

(SOUNDBITE) (German) WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST AND PUBLICIST OF 'EMMA' MAGAZINE, ALICE SCHWARZER, SAYING: "We are women at the end of the day. And she tried to downplay this as much as possible; with her dress style. Matter-of-fact, comfortable, jacket and trousers. Flat shoes. No false coquetry. And yet at the same time I find that she has a very specific charm. I would say she is somewhere between girl and comrade.”

With days to go until the federal election

many Germans have never known anyone except “Angie”