Of course you have to own those items, hence the prestige of having them and everyone in the world seeing it. And going into a city, and seeing the people who do have it, going up and inspecting, etc.
Saying to look at someone’s hp is hilariously dumb. Nobody is clicking on random people and checking their nameplate, and even if they were it’s not enough to tell you what specific pieces they are wearing.
Unlike you, I can understand the other side on this issue. You don’t want occasional ugly or mismatched BIS pieces which does happen once in a while, or you want to wear your favorite looking tier set from tbc for the rest of time. On the other hand though, you do sacrifice a social and rpg element of the game that myself and many other classic players value. That’s a real thing weather you personally care about it or not.