I completely agree - I find the notion that people wear functional cycling gear for "fashion" reasons to be hilarious. I mean, come on - we look kind of ridiculous in these getups and there's no way I'd wear this stuff except for the fact that dedicated cycling clothing is incredibly functional and doing so adds to my comfort and my performance.

Clearly, clipless pedals are unnecessary for a four mile commute (or a forty mile commute for that matter). But they may still be desirable. My commute is, in fact, less than four miles. And I use clipless pedals on it because for me, I am safer, more confident and more in control when I ride with clipless pedals. I get that everyone is different, but I see zero downside to using clipless and plenty of upside -- I'll never go back to riding with platform pedals.