What I do is, create a unique morph of my G8 character, then, apply that morph to a g8.1 figure, and then I can use clothing, or expressions exclusive to g8.1
You'll have to repeat for every different character. But it's better than nothing. I'm currently working in a project with a lot of characters and I have to create 8, and 8.1 versions of each one, in order to use all the features from both models. 8, and 8.1