Why do armor types, when equipped, look so far from the armor icon graphic?
For example, the icon for mage plate is a simple metal breastplate with shoulders. Yet, when equipped on a Barbarian, it looks like a bunch of mummy wrapped leather, belts, and oversized-spiked shoulders… It does not resemble the icon graphic in the slightest way…
Look at the size differences of the classes… The sorceress compared to the barbarian for example. There is a huge size difference. It’s obvious the same piece of armor the icon graphic shows isn’t going to fit both of them. If the Mage plate were sized for the Barbarian, the sorceress could fit her whole body in the chest piece. If sized for the Sorceress, the barbarian might be able to get his half of his arm into the main chest cavity.
So what do they do? They make unique graphics for the model of each class depending on what armor you’re wearing.
What do you want them to do, create unique item art for each item icon depending on what class you’re playing? That’s a bit on the extreme side of nitpicking.
I disagree. There would be nothing wrong with having said armors fit each class similarly, according to the icon art, while still retaining some reasonable variance for each class when worn.
Unique looks, when worn, for each class were already created. They just did so in a way that is incredibly divorced from the type of armor presented in the icon ( depending on class and type )
You sure have a lot of silly little issues with the game, why are you pushing yourself to like it… if a game bothered me as much as it does you, I just move onto the next one 
Your complaint is why many d2 website have the cosmetics all laid out…
https://diablo2.io/download/file.php?id=108571&mode=view
You’re expecting too much of an old game which was respectfully ahead of its time when it comes to toon cosmetic customization which was a big improvement over d1 which wouldn’t even display your helm, it was all dependent on your armor which only had like 4 presets in total. The resurrected graphics were designed to match the old styles, not to ensure how an armor looks in the inventory matches the way it looks on your character.
Simply wondering why the armor graphics were designed to look like, for example, plate armor, and then on the equipped on character are portrayed as body wraps of leather and belts.
Regardless of class, great helms look like great helms, berserker axes look like berserker axes, etc. why are body armor graphics so far separated from their original appearance.
All because:
Diablo II is an action role-playing hack-and-slash video game developed by Blizzard North and published by Blizzard Entertainment in…2000
Yea some people forgot that this game is over 20 years old lol. And D2R is still a remaster not a remake.
This game was way ahead of it’s time back then.
That still doesn’t explain why this is the case, though.
Maybe each class has their own personalized touch they add to the armors they wear. The Necro always wants to put his skull horn shoulder pad on. The Sorceress always wants to have a loincloth draping down.
It’s the same way in the original game. I guess with the enhanced graphics, you are just now noticing it… 
Compare d2 to all other arpgs and mmos of its time, it blew pretty much all of them out of the water but it still wasn’t perfect, but all video games around that time were like this…baldurs gate, runescape, etc…who can you give us as an example of surpassing d2 back in 2000. idk what more OP wants, an apology letter from the original developers?
I think this game beeing from 2000 explains alot.
I disagree. There are universal, icon-based, across-class appearances for weapons, helmets, shields, why then not body armor?
We don’t see winged helms looking close to appearance on one class, and then as a leather bandana on another, and then as a bone helm on another…
Is this a request to give each class a set of knockers, a bulge in the pants, and multicolored hair?
You must be fun to be married to.
Thanks. Thats nice of you to say.
You’re complaining about a game that was released 23 years ago. What did you expect this thread would accomplish? Original developers to step in and explain why?
Great question op. Nobody knows, we can only speculate. 2D sprite graphics, armour bases, char classes, all frames of animation … time and budget were clearly the limiting factors back then. but different story with D2R - they can definitely fix this with little effort today.