$433.10

[kolemath]

I love how this poems lets consumerism dressing up self loathing, and in a shopping interaction.  Lie and falsehood layer over one another connecting character, content, and theme. 

I hold your gaze firm
as a handshake and say 'how may I help,'

but I'm not asking. the first pretense as you say later, nice lines
You can only choose the me you want to see—might 'only' come first, as only the shopper can choose (e.g. "Only you can . . .)

soft spoken, hands in pockets,
or joking and slapping thighs.

You can choose my voice: your daughter, your sister,
your best friend forever. again layering on the pretense; we are the projections of others, (in their minds at least); i like it

That's my favorite shirt!
Modal has effortless weight. It requires should these lines be in quotation marks?

a different bra, though. May I ask your name? I love how each interaction is an excuse to buy something else, then something else
I'll go get my measuring

tape because I'm not really asking. perhaps they don't need quotation marks if you're not really asking
I notice

the pants you're wearing—
their stitching, leg shape, drape—

to make you wonder
if everyone sees you in this much detail. the success of a judgmental salesperson, wow

You become self-conscious, wanting to please. the meaning of these lines is evident via the poems imagery. cut them?
Make me proud! is pride the emotion floating between these characters?

Buy the name brand jeans with the rhinestones on the ass.
They offer control on the inside. nice ambiguity working here

Do you need new panties? Something lacy!
Men will be watching, and you don't want to be embarrassed

to reveal something ugly.
I'm sure your husband

would love the matching bustier.
You don't have a husband? Buy the bustier! my favorite line, damned if you do or don't

Four hundred thirty-three dollars, ten cents—
it's refreshing to lose the pretense. and the only honest part of the interaction comes

You ask for my name with a grateful smile
and this is my final lie. strong closing lines, looping back to all the pretense 

I'm sorry if most my comments are in praise.  There's a lot working very well here.  One thought is one the quotation marks.  At times the narrator speaks to the shopper directly, at other times the lines instead seem to suggest the real meaning behind a sales interaction.  How might quotation marks/italics/something else be used to distinguish these two very different kinds of dialogue in the poem?

Again, just a thought.  Maybe you want to let them blend together, highlighting the absurdity of the interaction.

Thanks for sharing!  Fun read!