you can't weed vintage

last night i cleaned out my closet to make room for all the spring things i've been collecting and to try to pare down to my absolute favorites. it's lovely now that i can somewhat see what's in there again, but the 'paring down' part is so hard!
as vintage collectors, how can we ever get rid of things? there are tons of 'rules' out there on how to weed out a closet, but i think that for more 'creative' dressers, those rules do not always apply.
one in particular i'm against is the 'if you haven't worn it for more than 6 months, toss it' tip. some of my most beloved possessions have been items i found buried in the closet after years of neglect. some things need time to ripen!
when i 'clean out' my closet, i make a pile of things i love love love, a pile of things that are still growing on me, a pile that maybe just needs a little alteration to make it back into the closet, and a pile to think about getting rid of. only the first two piles get put back on hangers.
this last pile will probably sit in a bag stuffed into the back of the closet for the next few months, giving the items within a chance to become more necessary. then i let my girlfriends go through the things i don't want -- we do this pretty often and with the rule that if anybody ever desperately needs something back, you give it (knowing you'll probably get it back from them again someday anyway). there's a shirt in my closet right now that has gone through all four of us and returned back to me, the original owner! this way, the things you're not ready to let out into the great unknown of thriftland are at least out of your house while you think about it.
basically, my point is that i just need a bigger closet because i still have decades of shopping to do and i don't plan on giving up much of what i have to make room for it!

p.s. isn't it funny how we love to take pictures of our closets? what good is one outfit post a day when you can see the makings of countless outfits all at once?! i think the stylish wanderer and dear golden would agree...