In fact, they don't really look anything different to a normal pair of sandals, when you are wearing them. They have a huge selection of patterns and colours for the buyer. The usual colour of a hanao is black for men and red for women. The hanao on my zori is a pink squared pattern, with cute little characters on it. Rush mat zori are traditional Japanese summer shoes, for wearing with a yukata .
Formal zori are for wearing with a kimono .
They have been around since the Heian period. Generally, men's zori are squarish while women's zori are more rounded. The climate in Japan is very humid and shoes become rather stuffy during the summer season. Compared to the old style of footwear, zori and geta are cool and good summer wear. They are shoes that are truly native to Japan, not influenced by the previous Chinese style.