These sandals are a muted silvery-pewter color, have fairly decent arch support for a flat sandal, and are very well made. I have had fellow teachers, high school students, and middle school students compliment me on the look of these, so I'm thinking they do NOT look too old lady-ish. ;-) I first purchased these in my regular 8.5. I have a true 8.5 front of foot and a somewhat narrow heel. I had to exchange for a half size down, a size 8, and this works very well. I have fairly low arches and need the built-in arch support to avoid recurrence of plantar fasciitis. I am not at all overweight, so I can't speak for any bio-mechanical issues related to excess weight.