I remember reading about the real-time outfit damage in previews and I wondered where it had gone when I finally got the game. Clearly what we did get was a cut-down version of the original idea. Maybe it was confusing to the player to take a herb to heal themselves and yet still see a damaged and bloody outfit?

There are images showing this feature with both characters:

http://upaluppa.wetpaint.com/page/Biohazard+1.5+Review+Backup

Whether this is true or not still makes it an an interesting and cool concept. In a way this reminds me of Doom 2. The more damage the player took by enemies, the more bloodier the character looked. Its a shame that Resident Evil 1.5 was the only title to have had this feature :(