In my AD&D home campaigns it's often a matter of what area you're in. The more magical realms will have more exotic/unrealistic and potentially tacky items, while the small town in the Western Heartlands will have a more of a medieval/historical vibe. Adventurers who have travelled between all those extremes therefore often carry a weird mix of items. So imagine the farmers spotting the mottled troupe passing their field. "Whoa, who are those clowns?" "Boots of Elvenkind, dwarven armour, Calishite cloaks, silly hats and winged helmets? Must be adventurers. Raiders have more dignity."
I cannot enough support the proposals and want to cite them again. It's especially mindnumbing that you can profit fro example from a shield while actually using a bow or enhance your crit chance with a sword by carrying a bow with such stats, and so on.
I didn't have the chance to check out the world of Divinity yet, but it's actually a thing in tabletop D&D as well, that some items' magic will work by just carrying them.
