לא יהיה כלי גבר על האשה ולא ילבש גבר שמלת אשה כי תועבת ה’ כל עושה אלה
In our days, many people wear customs in Purim. Obviously there is no Mitsva to do this. It is just a popular practice that became accepted in Jewish communities all over the world, especially for children. However we must know, and inform others who might not know, about the prohibition of cross-dressing. Wearing clothes designed for the opposite sex is an explicit prohibition of the Tora, Deut. 22:5: “A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man shall wear women’s clothing, for haShem your God abhors anyone who does this”. The rabbis explained that when a man dresses to look like a woman, wearing a skirt or a wig, or using make up, etc., or when a girl dresses to look like a man, they are transgressing a Biblical Law. This serious prohibition applies also during Purim. Rab Obadia Yosef z”l was very strict about this point and he explained that cross-dressing applies even when one dresses to look like the other gender ‘just for fun’.
