I have noticed a couple of threads on purging. I think we all know that purging does not feel good. I did it when I was younger, like many of us, but moved past it pretty quickly.
I have some perspective on what causes purging, and ways to move past it.
First of all purging is a sign that you have two sides of yourself that are in strong disagreement, one is in control when you buy the clothes, the other when you get rid of them. It is like you have a feuding couple inside your head, that are saying a lot of nasty things to each other, and at times sabotaging each other. The key is to find peace in the inner battle.
The key to the inner battle, is to allow both sides of yourself to be heard. If you are purging, I would actually suggest slowing down how much "dressing up" you do, but spend time reflecting on your feelings about it. One technique for this, is to take a piece of paper, and have a conversation between the two parts of yourself, maybe even use two colors of ink. Allow yourself to be bold and frank on both sides. Looking back, sometimes I did not hear the deep feeling underneath my desire to CD, and once I heard them, it seemed more right, and I felt less guilty. Also, in addition to judging my desires to dress, I judged my judge! I felt angry and not open to the part of myself that didn't want to dress. And I think my hearing that part, and understanding the fear, and societal judgement I had taken on, actually allowed to me move past the judgments.
In my experience, any time we can fully feel and listen to the thoughts in our heads and hearts good things happen.
An even better way to have this inner dialogue, if you are good at role playing, or have a supportive friend who can help, is to either alone, or with a friend as a witness, set up two chairs facing each other in a room, have one represent the part of you that wants to CD, and the other the part that doesn't and have that same dialogue. I have done this and supported probably 1000 other people doing this process on the CD issue and other issues, and it is almost always powerful.
Another trick if you have a lot of inner conflict is to do a lot of reading of books that support trans and CD and a total opening of gender expression, especially those that give powerful historical and philosophical arguments that can counter the judgements we have picked up from society. Gender Outlaw was my favorite, but there are many others.
I think that this board becomes a place you can bring up your fears, and hear responses. I hope that we provide a place for folks to have those fears, and to not just respond, "Oh, you don't need to feel that way" but to really understand and empathize with each other.