I'm not an every-day commuter, and I've been doing it on and off for about a year now. Being in school, my schedule sometimes requires me to drive to get places in short time windows, but other days I can take my time and go by bike (which I prefer when the weather is not awful)

Distances:
home/office: 4 miles one way
home/campus: 7 miles one way
office/campus: 12 miles one way
home/beer store: 1.5 miles one way

So far I've been on platforms/quills and didn't really mind it, but I was also commuting on a tallbike a lot of the time and had more critical things to be paying attention to.

Now that I'm riding a retro-direct touring-style bike a lot, I decided to try clipless to see how it helps the backwards pedaling. I ordered a pair of cheaper Nashbar SPD pedals over the weekend and picked up a pair of Shimano MO21 shoes the other day. I usually ride in toe clips on New Balance running shoes, which is undesirable because of the width of the sole, which doesn't fit nicely in the clips/straps and results in me scraping my heels against the cranks and chain stays if I don't seat the shoes outwards against the limits of the straps before taking off.

I've been wearing the Shimanos around to work and school since I bought them and they are actually pretty darn reasonable to walk in. My employer doesn't mind me coming in to work dressed in mildly sweaty street clothes and whatever footwear I like as long as I don't look or smell too much like a hobo and we don't have clients in the office. My coworkers know that when there's a bike propped against the cube, I'll probably look and smell a bit rustic.