Seems like you could buy some armored clothes and decide for yourself what they look like, so it's a bit odd to restrict something from starting characters that is no better. The only reasoning behind it that I can see is that the rights to each heritage line are owned by the people who made the order. Corps, governments, individuals, ect. Still, it seems like those people would generally be more than willing to turn around and sell the clothing to the public for profit.
