Have you ever found a pair of shoes and inspected them closer to try to determine if they are leather or not? Aaron Marino of alpha m. says if you are buying a quality shoe, you can rest assure that the shoe is leather.
If you are looking at more stylized fashion shoes, you may have to question if the shoe is leather or not. If you suspect fishy, it’s probably synthetic (creases cleanly, doesn’t feel durable, doesn’t smell like leather on the upper, no leather indication sticker on shoe or box).
Shy away from buying shoes online if any question about what the shoe is constructed of. Shoes that are not leather look cheap, don’t last, and fall apart fast. Remember the four steps for identifying leather: Looks like leather. Feels like leather. Smells like leather. Marking on shoe states it’s made of leather.