depends how much you want "the look". personally I've always found no need to load up the front for 90% of the touring I've done. It seems the norm now to load out like you are doing a round the world trip, when in reality you are doing 2 or 3 days.
I nice rack up front is always a good idea if you are doing longer though, but not loads of mounts for bottles and the likes, lets face it, in the UK and Europe you are rarely further than 5 miles from a clean water source, so why lug it with you?
Very much agree with this. I cycled in Tunisia for 3 weeks with only rear panniers and the tent, sleeping bag etc strapped on the rear rack in the 90s. But I was with a friend, so we split some gear between us. In my earlier days, I did have front racks (Blackburn IIRC - and it could be mounted without fork bosses) - but after a couple of runs decided they were more hassle than they were worth.
As I've got older (I haven't cycle toured for 20 years), travelling has become more and more minimal. There's not many countries I'd want to go where problems can't be solved with a credit card so you can travel light. I use carry on only for flights, for example.