Real Leather bag vs Very leather-like bag?

[lilylee]

Do you have experience to distinginsh a real leather bag from a leather-like bag?

 

[Luna]

The look and feel of a leather bag is very different from that of a non-leather bag.

Pleather feels almost plastic-y.

 

[Plastic'sWife]

I would have to smell it to know the diff, I know its strange, but I use my smell sense alot...

 

[lilylee]

I bought a bag from louisfashionhouse.com. In their products, it says" genuine leather with manmade trim" What does it mean? It means real leather or just leather-like. I bought a bag from them. I love it. I cannot differenicate it's real leather or not. Can someone explain to me what "genuine leather with manmade trim" means? I once visisted a shopping mall, I saw a bag with a tab of the words"genuine leather with manmade trim" and I asked a customer service representative if it's a real leather bag but she could not answer.

 

[Luna]

From what it says.. the body of the bag is made of leather.. of some sort.. and the trimming is PVC.. meaning, the piping.. or the strap... or the binding is PVC. make sense?

 

[lilylee]

But, the bag is just $25 for the one I saw in the shopping mall with this word. It smells and looks real leather. If the body of the bag is made of leather, it should not be this cheap. Still Confused.

 

[Jujube22]

Hey I like to smell my leather bags too. Like a cat or something.

I would have to smell it to know the diff, I know its strange, but I use my smell sense alot...

 

[Luna]

But, the bag is just $25 for the one I saw in the shopping mall with this word. It smells and looks real leather. If the body of the bag is made of leather, it should not be this cheap. Still Confused.

What was the brand? What did the bag have on it? like detailwise?

Leather really isn't that expensive if you get it wholesale.. which is what all handbag companies do.

How large is the bag, also?

 

[lilylee]

It's a small bag with width 8.5 inches and height 6 inch.The bag's brand is"apostrophe". I smell it. It looks real leather. Is it real? From the smelling, I feel it's real but it doesn't look like real leather in price. I bought this bag in very fancy big shopping mall, not by wholesale. Now I bought one from louisfashionhouse.com, it also says "" genuine leather with manmade trim" in their products. I like the bag. But I want to find out if it's real leather bag. Still confused

 

[Luna]

Apostrophe brand is sold in stores like JCPenney.. so it's very possible that the bag is leather.. just a lower price.

If it says it's real.. then it probably is.. but the trim is not. Most handbag companies do use PVC trim.. only because it's a huge waste to take a long narrow piece out of the middle of a hide of leather.

Ya know?

 

[Guessgirl96]

Hey I like to smell my leather bags too. Like a cat or something.

Same here. I open my closet and get this strong leather scent that I love

The scent is almost soothing

 

[Diorling]

I would have to smell it to know the diff, I know its strange, but I use my smell sense alot...

I do the same, you should see me in stores when Im sniffing belts and bags. I also bite leather, it has this certain resistance, that's how I know if I cant tell via sniffing...

(I must seem so insane)

 

[lilylee]

Now, in the market some manmade leathers are very similar to the real leathers. Even I smell it, it's no different until I bring it to store to consult with an expert.

 

[Luna]

Once a bag is made.. it's very hard to tell if it's real leather or not...

The only way to figure it out for certain is to rip apart one of the seams so that you can see the underside of the leather.

that is the determining factor.

 

[lilylee]

"rip apart one of the seams " will damage the bag. Not recommended to all.

 

[Luna]

No crap. But it's the only way to know for sure.

 

[crepebacksatin]

if you look really really close at leather, it will have pores. vinyl usually doesn't, and if it does, they're usually really regular and even-looking. plus, that smell

 

[Luna]

The only leather that shows pores, if any is pigskin.... and most skins are treated so that the pores are invisible on the face of the skin.

 

[lilylee]

I finally found out that the small bag I bought with "genuine leather with manmade trim" on it is real leather. I had an expert to see the bag and he can prove it is real leather.

 

[Melisande]

I heard you should scratch gently with your fingernail: genuine leather will scratch but pleather wont...so far it seems to work, but does it always apply?