I wouldn't know if it is better, for I don't know your game and even what exactly it is you want to do..
All I know is what you tell me..
Arrays can be of great help in many situations, but if it is nescessary or even wanted in this case depends on so many things..
If you want to learn about arrays, there are some great tutorials available..
For now you are talking about buttons with animations (which don't exist, so I guess you are using sprites instead of buttons)
You want to go from buy to equip, which you can do with a boolean (you could also do it without, depending on the difficulty of your setup)
when pushed while displaying equip you want to change the animation of your ragdoll or parts of your ragdoll (if I understand correctly)
I guess we are at the point where you should share a little bit more about how you have things set up before any further help will be what it should be, helpfull..