I believe one way to implement this would be to be able to purchase unlock codes for items. Dev match prizes are currently distributed by the devs through the winners asking which item they want from the store, and the devs sending them a one-time unlock code for that specific item.
Of course, one might question the romantic aspect of sending a bunch of seemingly arbitrary letters in an E-mail as a gift but hey.. those seemingly arbitrary letters can unlock mohawks, monocles, gas masks, and other romantic stuff! Oh, and moustaches! Don't forget the moustaches!