With the purchase of cosmetic items from the station store it seems that the Art department of SOE will be kept employed for a good long while (I hope). However, due to the nature of battles and fighting in Planetside most of their work will go unnoticed and unappreciated.
In battles the size of the player, the effects, and the distraction of battle don't allow players to notice each others cosmetic items. This in effect will lessen demand for said items.
However with the removal of the kill cam, there is a spot for you to see who actually killed you in detail. So with some Paint magic here is a death screen that could be useful.
That way you can see what items the player had that killed you and will hopefully make you want to deck yourself out to match.
However from what I've read vanity items seem to be a sore point for veteran/hardcore people who think it will break immersion. And seeing those items here will break that. So Vets, what would you allow? Would you allow silly hats? Or does everything have to fit in Planetside's universe?