Chancellor Merkel in Oslo, Norway. (Reuters)

Berlin, April 18 (Reuters): Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to brush aside an international stir over the plunging neckline on a dress she wore to the opera in Norway last week in her first public comments on the furore.

Merkel had swapped her usual loose-fitting suits and neck-high tops for an eye-catching black evening gown when she attended the inauguration of Norway’s new national opera house in Oslo on Saturday.

Pictures of Merkel and her ample cleavage as she sat next to Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg made front page news in Germany and across Europe. Merkel tried to play down the fuss in a television interview late yesterday.

“It’s simply due to the fact that in Germany a woman is chancellor,” Merkel told ZDF television when asked about the all the attention surrounding her low-cut, tight-fitting dress. “In any event, there certainly wouldn’t be a discussion like this with a man (as chancellor),” she added with a smile — this time clad in a loose-fitting black top and baggy red suit.

Merkel, 53, has been going through a gradual makeover in office. With the help of Germany’s top hairstylist, she replaced her pageboy style haircut before winning the election in 2005 with a more modern and dynamic-looking wind-blown hairstyle.

Her feminine appearance in Norway also stood in sharp contrast to conservative unisex look — black trousers and boxy jackets — that she is known for at home.