I ride clipless, but I can see why people would use clips. I use specialized Sonoma2 shoes and while very comfortable (and most people think they look cool ) they are still nowhere hear normal shoes. Also, if you commute, you sometimes want a bit more flexibility when picking your shoes.

My solution is MTB pedals with a platform cage, but that is still far from optimal.

I guess that it is a question of what you use your bike for, I can't imagine going to a club on bike shoes (although noone would know they are). On any sort of longer ride you want those clipless pedals though.

Maybe the solution would be a platform pedal with a clipless system (I think those exist) with maybe an easily removable cage? ....Sounds like something someone already made.