The richness and exquisite grain pattern of genuine snakeskin makes your shoes look like a fine piece of art. The intricate details of genuine snakeskin add a flare to any shoe design. It can magically turn a plain designed shoes into something very tasty.

However, snakeskin is exotic, delicate and very narrow in size. The length of a piece of genuine snakeskin hide usually range from 40-50″ long, 4-5.5″ wide.

So next time when you see a boot or bootie claimed to be real snakeskin and without connection seams on the upper, chances are it is faux snakeskin. Genuine snakeskin simply can not cover such a large area without patch work.

An example of ideal shoe design with snakeskin as the material choice:

Secondly, each snakeskin hide has similar pattern and shade but never exactly the same. If you found snakeskin is used on a large area with patch work, but each patch carries the same shade and pattern, chances are it is faux snakeskin.

Thirdly, look at the price tag. Genuine snakeskin is delicate and expensive. The more used on the shoe, the higher the price. Real snakeskin is pricey. It can cost 3 to 5 times more than cow hide of the same size. The narrow and long shape of a genuine snakeskin hide can create a lot waste when patching for a large area, and the waste will be counted into the final price. A handbag made of the good “stuff” can easily run upwards of $1000 to $2000. Shoes can be retailed starting around $500.

Well, price tag may not always tell you the true story. A pair fake snakeskin shoes can also be tagged with $500+, fake and pricey. In this case, try to evaluate the genuinity by area, pattern and shade.

So what are the fake snakeskin? What are they made from? The look can be created with synthetic leather with snakeskin prints or snakeskin pattern stamped cow hide.

If the material sample you have in hand is with fabric as backing, it can be cheap and low quality synthetic leather (PU) with snakeskin print to fake the look. If the fake material is with backside look like genuine leather, it can be embossed/stamped cow hide with snakeskin print. Between these two, leather faked is a better choice as it’s breathable and your feet would feel nice and dry.