Customizable characters with sprites in 2d

Hello, im on the verge of starting to devellop my first game. it is a 2d adventure game, and so (after watching tutorials and reading a few questions by other people) i was left with 1 question.. that is how to animate a sprite while still being able to change the sprite (eg give it a new helmet or chestpeace) without having to do a separate animation for it... I hope im not being stupid and u understand what im trying to ask here. Any help would be much appreciated. thx in advance