I'll always have a soft spot for my savage gaiters. Appearance-wise, it tended to look like I had no foot armor on, but the extra str had me wearing them almost non-stop during low to mid level xping.

But it is an interesting idea. The level 1 starter gear and the RSE are the same models just recolored (I vote new green tint for Mithra). It would be neat to have a high level version. But maybe instead of the concern that the stats vary too much and are based on race, make it a general piece of gear that everybody could benefit from. Even something similar to the sparks armor that gives increased skill-up rates with the only difference being cosmetic.