Best gear for each class?

[prymortal]

Wait... you're excluding AF, but not excluding endgame items? I mean, if you're gonna exclude anything, exclude the stuff that takes months to get, not the stuff you can grab a party for and get by the end of the day.

That said, for white mage, best items are:
Weapon: Chiran Ziran's Tempest
Gloves: Darklight Gloves
Earring: Blessed Earring
Choker: Black Pearl Choker
Wrist: Black Pearl Wristbands
Ring1: Blessed Ring
Ring2: Turquoise Ring (Or Amber ring)

For the rest of your slots, your AF's pretty much as good as it gets, except for maybe the pants (I happen to like faster insta-raises, some folks prefer better stats). There's really not a lot of gear out there that directly helps healing or enhancing magic, so your best bet is probably to find whatever gives the best MND and/or VIT, and slap some materia in there for more if need be.

^^totaly agree
Other choices:

Body: Woolen Cowl (no head equipment slots with this) (+materia mind or Vitality)
Body Alt: Imperial Operative Dalmatica (Imperial Stronghold Gold Chest)
Waist: Vanya Sash (+materia Touch of serenity or manathirst)
Legs: Darklight Breeches
Legs Alt: Felt Gaskins (+materia Vestryman's or manthirst)