I've been told that holding a lighter to the "leather" will cause no damage if it's genuine, but leave a big white spot and smell of chemicals if it's not. Does anyone know another way to check? My concern is that a lot of leather jackets get treated to protect them from rain, which could mean a similar reaction to fake leather under the flame test. It'd also be nice to have a way to verify real leather, that won't have shop keepers calling the police.

uh i would check the tag.

Well, does it not feel like fucking plastic, for one?

It's likely it'll be fucking pricey too.

The feel and smell should give it away.

It'll be much heavier then plastic.

Yeah. No mistaking that real leather smell...until they start putting the smell in the plastic.

wear it in the rain

Wear it to a field of cows and see if they try and get you to join a seance.

Yeah, nothing smells like leather except leather.

They can make pleather smell like leather. Hell, they can make a plastic cup smell like leather if they want to.

They'll make it smell like leather to people who don't know what leather smells like.

They'll make it smell like leather to people who don't know what leather smells like.

No, they can make it so no one can tell the difference. It's all just chemistry.

If it smells like Cow it's probably leather.

One day they'll make androids with real feeling skin & who smell just like women. The only way an average guy will know? Is if they have some kind of hip giveaway name like Transistor Sister or Wires. :p

I'd invest in that technology.

When I worked at a furniture store the way you could tell real leather from fake was on the leather you could see all the imperfections (scars on the cow, markings some minor others major depending on size of furniture...etc). There was a certain feel when you rub your hand across it too...that is hard to explain. But on couches, and chairs and I can spot leather and fakes easy.

Letha thmell lig letha-plassic thmell lig plassic.

Obviously you'd start by looking at it. It has to atleast look like leather. There are tons of 'leather' products that actually look like plastic.

Next the touch and smell. Leather does vary in touch, some is quite hard like motorcycle clothing, and some is very soft and smooth (and has an astronomical price tag) Plastic would feel thin and too flexible. If you're able to feel both sides of the leather, the outside will be smooth, and the inside will feel kind of furry.. I'm not sure how to describe it properly but if you ever feel it one day its got an unmistakeable touch.

And ofcourse leather has that distinctive smell. However im not convinced that they cant make a plastic coat smell the same, but if it doesnt smell of leather its a dead giveaway.

And then the weight. Leather is heavy, plastic is light. Yet I couldn't say this is foolproof because if I were to sell fake leather jackets, I'd definitly fill the lining with something heavy.

if a hippie motherfucker hurls a bucket if blood at you then it's the real deal

Smell

if you've smelled and felt real leather you'll be able to instantly tell the difference