"As long as it's only cosmetics" has moved the goalposts from where we used to be on the matter. I completely agree it's bullshit.
The Tales Of series has been bullshit. Used to be fun collecting new costumes from hidden events and side quests. Now half of the interesting costumes are either DLC or different edition bonuses which you can later purchase as DLC.
Neither of those use the 2e rules, which are quite different from Pathfinder 1e.