Men’s dress shoes account for somewhere around 6% of the total shoe market worldwide. When it comes to men’s dress shoes, the top brands and designs are almost always exotic skin shoes.

Mens designer dress shoes and mens exotic shoes are very popular and for very good reason. They are high in quality and are made from the finest materials that can be found. Exotic skin shoes for men can be tricky to judge if you have never shopped for a pair before. Here are the three best exotic skins that are used to make artisan shoes.

1.) Alligator Belly Skin

If you are looking for unparalleled flexibility and softness, this is the skin you want to get your feet into. While it is true that the back and the belly are both great skins for boots, you want the smoothness of the sleeker look of alligator belly skin.

Grades two or three will give you the best combination of quality and price. If you do decide to go with the slightly lower grade three, make sure you check to see if any defects have been worked around.

2.) Crocodile Flank Skin

The skins from the crocodile flank are definitely much more affordable when compared to the gator belly variety. With crocodile hide, you want to make sure that the hides have been properly contoured. You want a right flank and a left flank to get a proper and consistent shape to your shoes. When dealing with crocodile hides, flank scales are usually uniformly round in shape. make sure they are even.

3.) Shell Cordovan Leather

When it comes to making exotic skin shoes for men, shell cordovan leather is nearly perfect. The average piece of shell cordovan is right around two and a half feet, making it the perfect size for a pair of mens shoes.

It has a tight grain and an inherent sheen, which makes it naturally scratch resistant. If your shoes do get scratched, they buff out rather easily because the grain of the leather responds very well to leather conditioners. At the end of the day, shell cordovan is a top-quality leather and makes elegant and functional exotic mens shoes.