You can wear everything except the orange gear as f2p other than that...there's really no restrictions outside of bank space (70 something slots instead of 200ish). The rest of the differences between f2p and paid are just bonuses to those to pay not restrictions to those who don't. I like that approach more.
Edit: I went ahead and snipped a picture of the comparison chart.
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2. Rare and higher items will have limited availability for Free members.