How to spot fake leather shoes?

[Coater]

How to know if a leather shoe is actually made of faux leather? I happened to found brown leather shoes, that I bought a couple years ago, but only used a few times. They are made by Montega.

So, I started thinking they might be faux leather as they didn't cost much when they were new. They were around 100 euros or maybe even a little less. That's pretty cheap for real leather shoes, right?

 

[takashi]

Light it.
Synthetic leathers smells plastic...

It's very difficult to spot nowadays, unless you use leather everyday...

 

[flipster]

Originally Posted by takashi

Light it.
Synthetic leathers smells plastic...

It's very difficult to spot nowadays, unless you use leather everyday...

Yes, smell it. Or chew it, nothing chews better than a nice handgrade Northampton shoe. Ask my dog.

 

[DWFII]

Originally Posted by Coater

How to know if a leather shoe is actually made of faux leather? I happened to found brown leather shoes, that I bought a couple years ago, but only used a few times. They are made by Montega. So, I started thinking they might be faux leather as they didn't cost much when they were new. They were around 100 euros or maybe even a little less. That's pretty cheap for real leather shoes, right?
They have a price tag that is lower than your hourly wage.

 

[ter1413]

Scratch a little part and smell. If it smells like leather, it's real. If it smells like pleather, it's not!

 

[DWFII]

I apologize for giving a flip answer...although there is a great deal of truth in the observation.

Originally Posted by ter1413

Scratch a little part and smell. If it smells like leather, it's real. If it smells like pleather, it's not!
I work with leather each and every day and while it is possible that my nose has gotten desensitized, I have to tell you that I cannot think of any leather I've ever run across has a real odour. Even leather such as alligator is pretty neutral. What we smell when we think we smell leather is almost entirely dressings that have been applied after the fact. I had this discussions on a fragrance forum sometime back--it astounded me that people could state definitely that the fragrance had leather notes when clearly what they were smelling was birch tar or saddle soap. If you really want to find out if a shoe is made of leather, you will have to look closely at seams, lines of stitching, raw or exposed edges and the label on the bottom of the shoe which will say something like "uppers man-made" or something like that. Bear in mind that in our culture we so elevate style over substance that it is almost a financial imperative to certain industries to create a product that is visually indistinguishable from leather--to fool people, in other words--simply because faux leather is so much cheaper to produce, generates less waste and all other things being equal the closer they can come to emulating the look and feel of leather the more they can charge.

 

[Coater]

The shoes smell like shoe cream, as I treated them with it a couple days ago. The shoes don't seem to have any mention of what they are made of. It only says "Montega Shoes and Boots" on the inside.

 

[antirabbit]

if they melt, they are fake.

 

[Aldehyde]

Examine exposed edges.

Buy quality brands with a good reputation.

 

[JayJay]

I have a friend who wears faux leather shoes, and he loves them. Says they're the most comfortable shoes he's ever worn.

 

[Fraiche]

Originally Posted by flipster

nothing chews better than a nice handgrade Northampton shoe. Ask my dog.

Tragic but hilarious.