On Vagabond's costume change in the late 1980s

Priscilla Lyons (Vagabond) first appeared in Captain America #325 (January 1987)
At that time, she was simply an anxious older sister hitchhiking to Miami to rescue her brother who'd fallen in with crimelord Ulysses X. Lugman (AKA -- The Slug). She was picked up by Nomad (Jack Munroe) in Kentucky and after relating her story, Nomad offered to investigate on her behalf.

Despite being surprised at Nomad's I-wanna-be-just-like-Magnum-P.I.-moustache, I was even more put off by the somewhat ambiguous quid pro quo here.  Did Nomad decide to help Priscilla and she simply kissed him in gratitude...or is there something a bit more...adult implied here?

Priscilla's next appearance (and her first in costume as Vagabond) comes almost a year later in Captain America #336 (December 1987).  In the interim, Steve Rogers has surrendered the Captain America identity and is wandering somewhat aimlessly across America.  Concerned for Rogers, three former partners:  Nomad, Falcon, and D-Man have teamed up to search for him.  Nomad brings Priscilla along for the ride, who has by this time adopted the costumed identity of Vagabond, featuring an outfit obviously inspired by her lover's.

This was also the first time Cap actually met Priscilla.  (During the great rescue-Nomad-from-the-Slug caper, Priscilla had only called Cap's hotline then.)

Since Priscilla has nothing more than a domino mask, Cap has the good sense to forbid her from tagging along when he and partners take on a group of serpent-themed super-villains in Captain America #337 (January 1987).  (You'd think this is the kind of solicitous concern that...I don't know...maybe a boyfriend would point out!  Hello Nomad?  Are ya listening?)

Priscilla's mimickry of Nomad lasted until Captain America #342 when she changed her costume to the red-white-and-blue themed workout duds she sports in this entry from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe:

I had started regularly collecting Captain America only a couple of issues earlier (i.e., with #340)  At the time, most of Cap's entourage appealed to me precisely because--with the exception of D-Man--they were not "super-powered."  Vagabond, however, was in a class by herself.  She basically had nothing but a mask and a fighting spirit.  She didn't even carry a particularly techie gadget or anything.  As a rather non-athletic little dude myself, I felt a gut-level admiration for this "normal" young woman who wanted to put herself in harm's way purely in the service of justice.  Vagabond was inspiring in a way that not even Cap was.  She was, literally, the "every (wo)man" of the group.  

To the best of my knowledge, the costume change in issue #342 was never explicitly explained.  I'm wondering if this was a case of the art being used to imply some character development.  In other words, was the costume change intended to represent Vagabond growing into her own person--rather than just being a "plus one" for Nomad--as she observed her lover in contrast to his peers and made the choice to pattern herself after Steve Rogers rather than Jack Monroe?

Of course, the fly-in-the-ointment with this interpretation is that this was precisely the time when Rogers himself was wearing the darker garb of his Captain persona (later adopted by the USAgent).  So maybe this artistic decision was as simple as the editorial staff saying, "Hey, we call this book 'Captain America' so maybe somebody on this team outta be wearing red-white-and-blue!"

I know I like my interpretation better...but what say you?