I can maybe get a toe down if I'm on the saddle. Maybe. It's a hard motion to describe, but you use the motion from pushing the pedal down from a stop to lift yourself up and (a little bit) back onto the saddle. To get off, you lift yourself off the saddle a little bit and step forward (I lean the bike a little to the right) when you're just about (but not quite) stopped. Do what Knot said and go watch some cyclists.

I agree with Knot--take the clipless pedals off and get the motion down, and wear whatever shoes you like. I rode in my Keen sandals or sneakers when I had platforms.

I mentioned this in a different thread last summer: When I first got the bike, my saddle height had been set by my old bike shop, at a height that was technically right for my leg length. I had re-learned to ride a bike on a mountain bike that was technically too small for me, so I could get feet down no problem. My first ride on my bike, I could not get myself onto the saddle, even having practiced the way my boyfriend taught me. I told him "I think my saddle's too high." The ever-patient DBF said "Okay, hang on a minute, just stay there." He fiddled around back there while I straddled the bike--I really wasn't paying much attention to what he was doing because I had no clue. He popped up and went to go get his own bike, and said "Okay, you're set--let's go!" And I hopped up into the saddle with no problem and off we went.
On the way back from the trail, he said "Know what I did to your saddle height? Nothing!" He has never let me forget that.