I'm going to try to explain why the crocodile skins are a bit iffy. And iffy is the best word I can come up with to describe this post.
Exotic skins are a multifaceted issue. On one of the sides are people who may absolutely love a designer bag, really, really want that bag AND feel totally okay with a replica that uses cowhide rather than an exotic skins. In fact, they'd even be okay if the designer themselves used embossed cowhide instead of using exotic skins (yeah, try telling Karl Lagerfeld that!).
I have girlfriends who see no problem in admitting that their replica Gucci or Hermes bags are not real crocodile, alligator or snake skins. They have a moral issue with the killing of, say a crocodile, for a handbag, but for some reason have no moral issue with the killing of a cow for that same handbag. *Shrugs and totally accepts this - It's a complicated issue that clearly has no single, definitive answer*
Then there's the other side where people want an exotic skin replica and want that replica to look as real as the real bag. This is where the replicas tend to fail. And I'm the first to admit it.
There is no way you are going to get an exotic skin replica that uses real exotic skins. Having said that, someone looking at your bag with a good eye for exotic skins will know that you're carrying a fake and that your bag is made with embossed cowhide or "mock croc" as it's sometimes called.
Okay, here we go. This is real crocodile skin.
I deliberately got a very large picture so that you can see the details. It's clear that the lighter pink colour in the middle of the bag is the tummy or underside of the crocodile. You can distinguish the scales and while there is a pattern, they are not IN THE LEAST uniform in size. You can also see that some parts of the animal hide took the dye darker than in other areas. This is a huge distinguishing feature and even if this crocodile skin had been dyed black or brown, you'd see a clear inconsistency in the colouring or dyeing.
Lastly, if you to close your eyes and feel this bag by running your hands across real crocodile skin, the texture is very bumpy. It's got a hard feel to it (like sticking your thumbnail into the bumps will not penetrate them - and you will break a nail before the bump on the leather gives way), at the same time, you can feel the many scales. Your fingers will move up and down with the natural grooves of this bag. With your eyes closed, you'd feel no uniformity in the motion as you glide your hand across the surface. In fact, there would be no consistency and you would get a different "feel" or sensation each time you were to glide your hand over the bag. The pattern of the grooves and bumps has no repetitive or recognizable pattern inherent to them.
Now, here is a mock croc bag. And a pretty good quality one too.
Again, I tried to get a big picture. You can immediately tell that this bag is embossed cowhide (or hide of some animal other than a crocodile). It is smooth to the touch. Yes, it has a pattern on it but the pattern, the grooves and the imitation scales are too uniform, too even and too "perfect". At this angle, you can see there are no outward protrusions from the bag, no bumps, no hard scales that will break a thumbnail if pushed on. You can see that running your fingers across this surface will produce a consistent, recognizable feel. You can tell that while the embossed cowhide gives the impression of crocodile skin, it clearly is not crocodile skin.
I have to go off on a different tangent which is kinda related to what I'm saying here. In these examples, I've used replica Hermes handbags with embossed cowhide. Aside from the embossed leather being a dead giveaway that the bag is a replica (because Hermes would die if they used embossed anything), here's the real dilemma. A genuine version of a Birkin, like the replica pictured above, on a good day, is sold for $80,000 on Ebay. That's a good day! Now, I know that the resellers on Ebay charge a lot more than what the bag is often worth (they had a Blue Jean Birkin for $46,000 last week IN THIS ECONOMY!!).
So here's my point in all of this. Unless you're Posh Spice or the like, carrying a "crocodile" Hermes Birkin (or any Birkin for that matter) is a sure sign that it's fake. Birkins, aside from being ridiculously expensive are hard to obtain. They take semi-famous people (like Pulitzer Prize authors, artists, etc.) about 5 years to get one. You have to put your order in today and some time around 2015 (Hermes does not give you an exact day) you may hear from them and you may get a bag. Maybe. Wanna hear the funny part [sarcasm]? Again, if you're not a celebrity or the like, you may not even get the Birkin you ordered. Only so many bags are made, by hand, and at the end of it, supply depends on what the crafts people have made. So you may have been hoping to get an ostrich skin white Birkin, but when Hermes calls you to tell you that your bag is "ready", it may very well be a brown Togo leather one. Hermes has been doing this for years and of course this picking and choosing its clients, solely based on prestige, has given their bags them that extra special coveted existence. The ultimate in exclusivity.
But the point to all of this, my friend, is that no matter how great your fake crocodile skin looks, most people (who know what a Birkin is) are going to assume you've got a replica. If I saw a woman, ANY NON FAMOUS WOMAN, and she was carrying a Birkin, I'd know it was a fake. Some of us may be able to afford a real Gucci or a real LV, but very few of us, and I'm talking VERY FEW of us can afford an Hermes Birkin.
So in the case of an Hermes bag, it doesn't really make any sense to worry about the crocodile skin looking fake on a replica. The very existence of the bag in non celebrity folk raises eyebrows with respect to its authenticity, never mind the fact that it's made with embossed cowhide!
Happy Shopping!!
