Certain armor would have "styles" or different appearances. A good example would be the royal jelly helm. You could click the icon and click "change style" and select the different kinds. In the royal jelly helm case, you could remove the crown, leaving only the purple-ish helmet. A few other examples.

Sniped hat- Removes snipe
Magic hood series- Removes "headband" on hood. Grey feather could remove glow effect.
Serus helmet- Remove scarf
Mercurial helmet/armor- Remove spines.
Mercurial Demo Outfit- Remove Tesla coils on back.

These features could be turned on and off, and would not affect accessories or slots. All style changes would be deactivated in Lockdown to prevent confusion.

I just say this cause i would love to wear Ice queen armor without the crown.