My eighty-something year old grandmother has me buy her these shoes in white for her birthday and in black at Christmas every year without fail. If I get her something else, I still have to purchase these shoes for her. She has the flattest feet your've ever seen, but loves these shoes and wears her othotics in them. I too have to wear orthotics and while I like New Balance, I have to wear Brooks because I need a deeper shoe bed.