Fashionista Poetry by Carol Allis

I don't feel comfortable here
In a dressing room larger than my kitchen
A well-dressed clerk laying out the clothes
A price tag on a dress
That's more than my car payment
Floral displays and crystal chandeliers
Class and elegance
But I come from
The wrong side of the tracks
Where you got flats at Penney's for three bucks
And my mother got her borgana --
Yes a real borgana --
For $10 at the Thrift Shop
In a town where doctors' wives
Dressed for status
And observed and duly recorded every stitch
When my mother -- poor, divorced, barely hanging on
Put on that coat
She held her head high
$10 for a piece of pride -- a bargain
She wore it while she sold the silver
To pay the rent
And the damask to buy food
And to this day
I'm proud when I buy discount
She taught me who I am ….