Back to the topic real quick- I have width issues too, I had a lot of foot injury and my widish feet got right ducklike. Custom road shoes are available, but at $500 a pop I passed. Lake makes beautiful road shoes in wide widths, and I think their Mt shoes come in widths too. The issue is the short size- that'll be tough. With a Look cleat even if you can get the ball of the foot close to the spindle some women still have a hard time getting enough leverage to pop out. I think Mt shoes are the way to go, I've used them on my road bike, every body does at some point. They're fine for touring.
But if they're intimidating you aren't ready for them anyway. Beginners should NEVER be started off in clipless. It's too much at once. People shoot their mouths off about cycling equipment all the time- ignore most of it. There's a lot of posturing and hot air about gear inches and crankarm length by fellas who don't know squat.
Standover issues are a frame size problem, and aren't going to be fixed by shoes or cleats. When you set down a foot in a Look, you don't stand on the cleat anyway but on your heel, there's a little pad there for it. You would be down on your face standing on the cleat- the people you see walk in Looks are putting all the weight on the heels. It's a learned skill. If you have a problem standing over the frame somebody may have sold you the wrong size bike. This is a really common problem for petite women, though there are bikes for you all. Some shops are unscrupulous that way.
Terry Bicycles was started by a petite lady mechanical engineer/ cyclist, and they've expanded enormously. The bike line is not just for smaller women anymore but you should know about Terrys and the issues involved in fitting smaller women. Look at <www.terrybicycles.com> and learn, and they may be able to help you with shoes. Call them up and ask, they're really helpful. You can also buy some width by changing the lacing on "almost there" shoes, I wear mens sneakers and still have to do that. At a size nine, though, I can find mens shoes. A 5 1/2 is more limited.
Everybody has a fit problem though, don't feel bad. If it's not shoes it's helmets or jerseys or frames.

Lizzy