The look, the feel… there’s nothing more elegant than a leather handbag or a well-fitting leather jacket. But don’t be duped with thinking that you’ve bought a genuine leather garment when, in actual fact, you’ve been duped into buying a fake.
So, how can you tell the difference between a genuine leather garment and something that its pleather (in other words, fake Leather)?
Real Leather Doesn’t Come Cheap
The easiest way that you can spot a pleather item is by its price tag. There are a lot of processes which go into making an animal skin ready to be used in a pair of leather shoes or a gorgeous leather belt.
All of the craftsmen, who are responsible for making sure that these processes are done correctly, have taken many years for them to hone their skills – and this doesn’t come cheap. It stands to reason that the finished leather item will carry quite a hefty price tag while its faux counterpart won’t cost as much.
What Does It Smell Like?
Genuine Leather has a distinctive smell, which is something that pleather is not able to imitate. So, if you don’t trust a salesperson, who swears blindly that the handbag – which you’ve been eyeing – is indeed genuine Leather, smell it just to double-check.
What Does It Feel Like?
Genuine Leather has a very distinctive feel – it’s either coarse or smooth. For example, ostrich leather is usually quite bumpy, while cows hide. Leather is quite smooth. However, if the belt – which they say is Leather – feels too smooth or ‘plasticky’ under your fingers – it’s probably a fake.
Is It Too Perfect?
Genuine leather products will have some imperfections when they are finished off. In other words, the seams will probably rough and natural-looking. However, a fake leather product will be finished off perfectly. Because genuine Leather is a much more difficult product to stitch, you’ll end up with rough edges, however, as fake Leather is easier to stitch it is easier to make the seams fit just right.
Following on from this, another way that you can spot a fake from a genuine piece is by looking at the pores of the Leather. If they are too regular, chances are very good that the piece is made from fake Leather. However, if the pattern of the pores is uneven, there’s a good chance that the product is genuine and you can relax and play right now instead of worrying that you got ripped off.
If All Else Fails…
If after everything you still can’t decide if the leather product is fake or genuine, trust the label. If a product is genuine leather, the manufacturers will have a sign embossed on the product saying so. And before you think that such a label is easy to fake, just remember that all it takes is one customer, whose bag rips, shows her friends her ‘genuine leather bag’ and sees that it is nothing close to genuine for that manufacturer to go out of business. So, if they have a genuine leather stamp on their product, you can trust it.