What are you actually proving?
You are matching this pair to a known retail run of that style code, size and factory. The box and extra laces help, but they travel separately and get reused. The pair has to stand on its own shape, materials and stamps.
Where do you look first?
- Style code on the size tag and the box label - they must match each other and a known retail run.
- Shape - toebox height, heel tab, wing length, collar. Compare to a trusted photo of that code.
- Materials - tumbled leather versus plastic-looking overlays, suede nap, stitching evenness.
- Glue and finishing - overflow on midsoles, crooked lace holes, sloppy interior tags.
- Box - label font, size run, and whether the lid fit matches that silhouette's usual box.
How does the style code help?
Copy the code character by character from the tag and the box. A pair whose tag and lid disagree is already a problem. Then match the code to a documented retail release - year, colorway, factory. A beautiful pair wearing a code that house never used is a copy, whatever the forum thread says.
What if you still cannot tell?
Say so. A provisional note with photos beats a confident wrong pass. Look up mode in samla.ai lets you photograph a pair and read style-code cues without filing it - useful at a meetup when you only need an answer the same evening. If you later get a third opinion you trust, edit the fields; they stay yours.
How does a photo help on a whole rotation?
Doing this by hand for one pair is fine. Doing it for a closet is slow. Photograph the pair and the box label; samla.ai reads brand, silhouette, colorway and style code, and returns a market estimate with comparables. Correct anything soft, then file the pair to the shelf or box where it lives.
