De-Cluttering for College

I'm off to college in a month or so, (for the first time... ahh), and I have a shortage of wearable everyday clothes. (A tragic result of wearing a uniform since sixth grade.) However, I have an overflowing closet. This is mostly crap I never wear that I've either been given as gifts or hand-me-downs, or I had to buy for a specific occasion and just never wore again.
My solution:
A major. wardrobe. overhaul. (dun dun dun)

I just spent all last night and most of this morning, (okay, I'm still not through... I'm taking a break), going through all of the clothes and trying them on in front of a full-length mirror. I made three stacks:
1)Keep- these clothes fit me great and I wear them often, and/or I will begin to wear them often, now that I can see them
2)Alter- These clothes are salvageable, but would be more wearable if I made minor alterations
3)Stash- These will probably not be clothes when I'm done with them, I don't wear them and they go into my fabric/craft stash for another day. (Mostly old t-shirts)
4)Toss-These clothes are just not okay. Either not a good material, bad (and unalterable) fit, or have a fabric that can't be dyed. I put these in a stack for various family members/friends to pick out of, then give the rest to Goodwill.

My Alter pile (ha- that sounds like I'm worshiping it...) is broken up into a few different categories:
1) To Dye
These clothes fit fine, but the color is off (for instance, I have about 4 kazillion pairs of khaki bermudas from public school days...) I put them all in my to-dye pile, and I've gone through and decided what color to make which. (You don't have to decide all at once, of course... I keep a running list of clothes that I want, so I just consulted that. One pair will for sure be black.) After I've separated them into colors I know I want, I put them each in bags with only that color, so I'll know how much dye to buy, and put the rest into a big bag to be decided on later.
2) To Embellish
This is a fairly small pile, for me, made up of things that fit well but for some reason don't get a lot of wear. For instance- I have a brown cardigan that's a perfect fit, but I'm not in love with it. I'll pick some pretty ribbon to sew down the front and ta da! A new sweater! Or: I have two black cardigans. (Why? I don't know... ha) I'll put the one that fits best as-is into my closet and the other will get a ribbon/button/sleeve makeover to become something unique Grin
3) To Fix-
This is the largest pile, since I seem to collect broken clothes like stray dogs. This pile is full of pants that need patching/hemming, dresses with split seams, hoodies that are too big, buttonless button downs, and the rest of the fashion orphans that hang out in the seedier parts of my closet.
This stack takes the longest to go through, but usually gives the biggest rewards. (That pair of flare jeans that are so middle school it hurts? With two seams up the legs, they become cool-kid skinnies, that I then threw in the dye-black bag to lend a bit of Audrey-esque chic. That purple corduroy blazer with the horrid breast pockets? Seam ripped, shortened, and dyed a more palatable aubergine it becomes a cool jacket for jeans.)
It is much easier to get through this pile with a plan, believe me. Try taking it in chunks of four items, making plans and altering those items before moving onto the others. Make a list of ideas for what you want to do to the clothes, then start on the items you're most excited about. Be fearless! You weren't wearing this crap anyways! If you mess up, who cares? Chalk it up to a learning experience and move on.
If anything you make ends up still being pushed to the back of the closet: Goodwill it is. I mean, really, third chances are for saps.
Of course, this sounds easy, but it could take a while. Don't be frustrated if you can't finish it all in one weekend! I would suggest that after the first major one, do a wardrobe purge about once a month, to keep things under control. I've heard that some women throw one thing away every time they buy something... but that sounds painful. For me, this works much better and it's like getting tons of new clothes for nothing!