The glamour plates, I would assume, are intended for folks who have pretty much settled on their looks/don't change very often. I have had the same glamours since like 3.3, and it was annoying to say the least to reglam everything piece by piece every time they dropped a new tier of hideous gear. Now I just shove my look into the glamour toilet (thank you poster who called it that) and just apply the plate every time I swap out a piece of gear. It's marvelous. For those who change their glamour every 8 minutes, this probably isn't a good system for you, but the old glam system still exists and mercifully has been reduced to only one catch-all prism.