Retail site Yandy.com on Thursday removed a sexy handmaid costume, inspired by The Handmaid’s Tale, following outcry on social media. 
 
 The Halloween costume, which referred to both the dystopian Margaret Atwood novel and Hulu series, was depicted as a bright red mini dress and cape with high heels. BuzzFeed News reported on the costume earlier Thursday, chronicling the Twitter responses that ranged from confusion to disgust. 
 
 Here’s part of the statement from Yandy: 
 
 Over the last few hours, it has become obvious that our “Yandy Brave Red Maiden Costume” is being seen as a symbol of women’s oppression, rather than an expression of women’s empowerment. This is unfortunate, as it was not our intention on any level. Our initial inspiration to create the piece was through witnessing its use in recent months as a powerful protest image. 
 
 The red cloaks and white bonnets worn by handmaids (aka the fertile women in the fictional Gilead who are subjected to ritualized rape and forced pregnancy) in The Handmaid’s Tale have been adopted as symbols of feminism. Most recently, women wore outfits inspired by the narrative to protest the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. 
 
 But the “brave red maiden costume” was much more revealing. Here was Yandy’s original description of the costume: 
 
 An upsetting dystopian future has emerged where women no longer have a say. However, we say be bold and speak your mind in this exclusive Brave Red Maiden costume. 
 
 Some people on Twitter thought the execution of the costume was confusing, while many others found it completely appalling. 
 
 Wait. Is this…sexy handmaid? This is so far from the point I can't even. — Noncompliant (@_noncompliant_) September 20, 2018 
 
 capitalism wins again https://t.co/eYurdOvoUE — Alexandra DeSanctis (@xan_desanctis) September 20, 2018 
 
 Great moments in self-satire. https://t.co/Ug6tFCRXs2 — Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) September 20, 2018 
 
 WTF WHO THIUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA I JUST WANNA TALK https://t.co/DsHBarTujG — Kozmo (@kozmos92) September 21, 2018 
 
 Of course, some people made jokes. 
 
 When you have a protest at the Capitol at 4 and happy hour plans at 5. https://t.co/gOZ9IEMVio — Alyssa E. Hackbarth (@AlyssaEinDC) September 20, 2018 
 
 And still others had even found the silver lining. 
 
 is it wrong if i think the slutty handmaid's tale costume is accidentally brilliant and subversive despite that not being the intention behind it at all — sophie bee (@pogform) September 20, 2018 
 
 The retail site seems to be erring on the side caution. Yandy’s statement said: “Given the sincere, heartfelt response, supported by numerous personal stories we’ve received, we are removing the costume from our site.” 
 
 Luckily, there are still plenty of other sexy costumes to choose from. 
 
 H/T Jezebel ||||| Screenshot from Costumeish.com. (Costumeish) 
 
 UPDATE: After this story was published, Costumeish said it was pulling the ensemble depicting Kim Kardashian. 
 
 “Due to the extensive out-lash we have decided to remove the ‘Parisian Heist’ costume from our website,” the retailer wrote Wednesday on Twitter. “We are sorry if it offended anyone.” 
 
 ORIGINAL STORY: 
 
 Halloween: The one day of the year you can pretend to be a reporter’s tampon, the Clock Kid, the world’s most despised lion-hunting dentist — or, if you’re into that sort of thing, a bound-and-gagged Kim Kardashian in the very moment she was tied up and robbed at gunpoint in Paris as thieves took millions of dollars worth of jewelry. 
 
 Yup. 
 
 Costumeish, the Southern California-based costume retailer behind several heavily criticized ensembles of Halloweens past, has just released a “Parisian Heist Robbery Victim Costume Kit.” For $69.99, it includes a long black wig, white robe, sunglasses, a gag, a rope and a ring — which is “not worth $4 million dollars,” according to the description. 
 
 It does not mention the reality TV star by name; however, it does refer to “America’s goddess of all things glamorous” and “the Queen of Social media.” 
 
 That doesn’t mean Taylor Swift. 
 
 “She devoted her life to promoting American decadence, youth, and hedonism but all that flashy living caught up with her one night in Paris when armed men bound her, stole her jewelry and her peace of mind,” the Costumeish description says. “This Halloween have some fun with pop culture and dress just like the Queen of Social media with our sensational ‘Parisian Heist Robbery Victim Costume’ Costume.” 
 
 [Khloe Kardashian on ‘Ellen’: Kim is ‘not doing that well’ after Paris robbery] 
 
 Although the company’s website boasts several supportive reviews, including one that called it “the costume of the year,” the retailer’s attempt at keeping up with Kardashian has drawn intense criticism from some online reviewers, who have called it “a mockery” and have said it’s “promoting rape and anti-female culture.” 
 
 “Here is yet another example of people blaming women for being victims,” one person wrote on Costumeish.com. “Many men wear expensive watches, necklaces, etc. and robbing them is still considered a crime. Treat it as such. Having a gun put to your head by multiple men while you fear that they may rape you is traumatizing. I’m pretty sure that the poor human being can’t forget any second of the attack and here you are using her scarring events to make money. This is disgusting. It is not funny.” 
 
 [Kim Kardashian robbery: Here’s everything we know — and don’t know] 
 
 On social media, the company was scorned for trying to profit off Kardashian’s misfortune. 
 
 That Kim Kardashian Halloween costume is not right at all — Julia (@juliaritaxo) October 11, 2016 
 
 A Kim Kardashian themed Parisian robbery Halloween costume, quite possibly the most distasteful and awful thing I've seen today. #thatsnotok — Sophie (@ClassicOyster) October 11, 2016 
 
 Johnathon Weeks, vice president of Costumeish, told Buzzfeed News that he was upset that critics were not seeing the humor. 
 
 “I’m sad that people are offended by it, but it is Halloween. It’s one day out of the year,” he said. “Halloween should be a light-hearted, spirited party, and people should be able to laugh at it and think it’s funny. We haven’t sold any yet, if that matters.” 
 
 He added: “If people find it tasteless or they are offended by it, it’s Halloween. Maybe you should just shut your life out and not go outside.” 
 
 Let the transformation begin #BazaarIcons A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jun 13, 2016 at 9:18am PDT 
 
 Last year, Weeks told Time that Costumeish uses search-engine data to determine which Halloween costume searches are popular with consumers, all the better to better tap into retail trends. At the time, the company had just introduced its “Lion Killer Dentist Halloween Costume,” which came with a bloody smock and gloves and a severed lion’s head, according to Time. 
 
 “Cecil was coming up, and just like with many of the other ones, like the Ebola or the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge costumes, we see the trend from users,” Weeks said. “Halloween is a really tricky day, and you see some of the costumes come about and it’s almost like desensitizing things.” 
 
 Weeks added that he did not intend to offend anyone. “I’m just here to keep things questionable,” he said. “We’re just in the very beginning of this Halloween season. There’s more to come.” 
 
 This year, Costumeish is selling several in-the-news get-ups — including a “Donald the Wall Builder Halloween Costume.” That one depicts Donald Trump in a red-brick suit, with an American flag. 
 
 Another Trump-themed costume portrays the Republican presidential candidate as a Mexican-style taco. 
 
 “… a taco truck on every corner in America!” the description states. 
 
 As word of the Kardashian costume spread, supporters said that creative mockery was exactly the point. 
 
 “Ordering this as we speak,” a reviewer wrote on Costumeish website. “Thank you for maximizing my schadenfreude this Halloween.” 
 
 “Finally something for all of us who are sick of having a certain family pushed forcefully down our throats,” another wrote. “Iconic.” 
 
 This story has been updated. 
 
 Read more: 
 
 Why are people mocking Kim Kardashian for being a victim of violent crime? 
 
 Kim Kardashian robbery in Paris is fueling French security concerns 
 
 How the NRA reacted to Kim Kardashian’s robbery ||||| Elisabeth Moss gives what might be the TV performance of the year in Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale. 
 
 The actress is probably best known for her work as Peggy Olson on AMC’s long-running drama Mad Men. In her new role, she plays the character of Offred — a woman forced to live as a “handmaid” and valued only for her fertility — in the alternate reality of the series, which is based on Margaret Atwood’s classic 1985 novel. Much of the adaptation is filmed in extremely intimate close-ups on Moss’s face, leaving her no room for anything false. Every eye twitch, every facial muscle shifting — they all register. 
 
 That Moss navigates this challenge with aplomb is evidence of her talent. She’s immensely thoughtful about the technical aspects of playing Offred, like how the character’s elaborate costume informs her performance — but she’s also engaged with the story’s more political elements, like how the world of the show has warped sex into something brutal and terrifying instead of enjoyable. And as a producer on the series, she was deeply involved in helping shape and build the world of the show. 
 
 I met up with Moss shortly before the series’ debut to talk about the links between Peggy and Offred, the role of accidental feminists, and what it’s like to have a camera in your face all of the time. 
 
 The following conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity. 
 
 Todd VanDerWerff 
 
 Actors often talk about how their costumes inform their performances, and that seems like it might be particularly true here. How did putting on the Handmaid’s outfit affect your work? 
 
 Elisabeth Moss 
 
 So much, honestly. The dress itself took the longest to figure out, because that was a blueprint for the rest of the Handmaids. Whatever we decided I was going to do, they were going to make 100 of them. So we needed it to be almost universal in a way. 
 
 There were specifications, like it couldn't be too revealing. At the same time, we didn't want it to be a sack that was unflattering that I had to put on every day. There were two things I wanted, which was it needed to be comfortable, because I knew I was going to have to wear it to death. Then I needed it to be something that I wanted to put on every day. From Ane Crabtree, our costume designer, I got both in spades. 
 
 It sounds odd to say you loved something that represents something negative, but at the same time, I did love that dress. I really did. It makes you move in a different way. It makes you stand in a different way. It makes you feel different than you feel wearing jeans. 
 
 Then when you add the other elements — the cloak, which is constricting in the sense that you can't really move your arms up that high. Then the bonnet, which we call the wings, is the most restrictive thing. It dulls your hearing. It's like putting both hands over your ears. It also cuts off all peripheral vision, so you have to turn your head to see. 
 
 The bonnet enabled some interesting things for us to play with as Handmaids with the camera, because tip it low enough and you can't see my face. You could reveal just one eye. You could do both eyes. It made every movement of the head deliberate and specific. When all movement, all conversation, is either forbidden or has to be very specifically chosen, it made playing with that much easier. 
 
 Todd VanDerWerff 
 
 There are a lot of flashbacks where you’re essentially dressed as a ... normal person, so to speak. 
 
 Elisabeth Moss 
 
 A lot of that was my own clothes, so I'm glad you didn't say dressed like a freak. 
 
 Todd VanDerWerff 
 
 What did you realize about moving through the world just dressed in your own clothes, as opposed to wearing the much more restrictive Handmaid costume? 
 
 Elisabeth Moss 
 
 The choice, the individuality that we have now, the Handmaids don't have. Two of the things that are stripped away from the Handmaids are the right to privacy and the right to be an individual. The privacy is taken away, because as soon as anyone sees your outfit or your dress, they know which class you belong to and they know you're a fertile woman. As soon as you’re all wearing the same thing, you have no individual expression. 
 
 It was interesting playing with the flashback clothes, with the flexibility that we have in the modern world with how we dress, gender-wise. You'll notice that the Handmaid's dress is much more typically "female," and it's female in accordance with this very specific little narrow path of what a woman should look like and what a woman should wear. 
 
 So we played in the flashbacks with June [Offred’s given name], maybe looking a little bit more like a tomboy, being able to dress in a pretty little summer spring dress one day and wearing jeans and a T-shirt or jeans and a baseball tee another day. We have that flexibility at the moment in our country. Obviously, it doesn't exist in other countries, but we have that. We can be who we want to be. 
 
 Todd VanDerWerff 
 
 Many of the reviews of the show have mentioned its timeliness, but in regard to women’s rights throughout the world, this book has always been timely. When you’re actively playing that character, though, can you think about the politics of the story? Or is it more of an emotional, intuitive thing, and then the more political aspects creep in later when you’re reflecting on it or watching it? 
 
 Elisabeth Moss 
 
 Politics does intrude. You can't help it. 
 
 I wish it wasn't so relevant, but you can't be in the world today and awake as a woman and not be aware of your rights being infringed upon. It's something that I have always taken personally. It's something I have always tried to be active and vocal about, but you can't help but take it perhaps a little bit more personally than you would other characters or other projects. 
 
 You can't help but feel a sense of responsibility to other women as well, which is something I'm not afraid of and something I feel privileged to be able to do. 
 
 Todd VanDerWerff 
 
 Obviously, you played another famous TV character for quite a while. Do you see a line between Peggy and Offred, or is their main similarity that they look like you? 
 
 Elisabeth Moss 
 
 I see so many similarities. The main thing that I see is this sense of, they're normal people. They're normal women. 
 
 Peggy, I always say, was sort of an accidental feminist. She didn't know about the phrase “the glass ceiling.” She reads in the paper that women are not getting paid as much as men, and she's confused and then goes and asks for a raise because she doesn't understand. That doesn't seem fair. 
 
 It's that fantastic stubbornness, that fantastic naiveté almost, that is exemplary of so many women of that time. Those are the sorts of women that made those strides in the '60s. 
 
 In Offred, I see the same thing. She's a woman. She's a wife. She's a mother. She has her own set of problems. She has a job. She is not meant to be a heroine. I think the great lesson she learns is there's a heroine in all of us, that we all actually do have the power to change things. That's something she has to learn. 
 
 That’s perhaps one of the many parallels. They're not perfect people, which I think is great because nobody's perfect. They're flawed, both, hugely, but there's a strength to them as well. 
 
 Todd VanDerWerff 
 
 You called Peggy as an accidental feminist, and one thing that’s fascinating about Offred in the book is that she probably wouldn’t have defined herself as a feminist either, but she ends up in this situation that makes her realize what she took for granted. Do you think that character’s been radicalized in a way maybe Peggy wasn’t? 
 
 Elisabeth Moss 
 
 I do. I think that is true of many women. I know it's true of a lot of women in my generation and younger than I am. We've grown up thinking that we were going to have these inalienable rights, that you couldn't overturn Roe v. Wade, for instance. Why wouldn't we have the right to choose? Somebody was going to say something. Somebody was going to fight for you. We weren’t taking it for granted but expecting that we would always have certain things, I think. 
 
 I do think in the last few years, there's been this sense of waking up amongst my generation and the younger generation and teenagers as well, of going, "Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, you can't take that away." 
 
 We've perhaps made June more of a feminist in the flashbacks than she is in the book, but I do think there is definitely a sense of when she is put into these circumstances where all of her rights are taken away, of course that's going to radicalize you. Of course that's going to make you have to fight back in a way that maybe you didn't think you had to. What I think is important though for us, as women now in 2017, is to fight now and not wait for that to happen. 
 
 Todd VanDerWerff 
 
 The Handmaid’s Tale is a story where sex is inherently political, where Offred is raped, and it’s sanctioned by the state, and her flirtation with another man is also a kind of political rebellion. But I always hear that actually filming a sex scene is really boring and technical for actors. Did that technical stuff drown out the larger political messages around sex in the story? 
 
 Elisabeth Moss 
 
 It was very important to us that the ceremony is very clearly a sexual assault and to not shy away from that idea. It is the center of the story in so many ways. Fertility and making a baby are what everyone is after. Whoever you are, whatever class you're a part of, that's what everyone wants. 
 
 It was very important for us to make sure that was something that was accurately portrayed with brutality, but also have it be clinical, have it be rote, and then also bring the three different people and the three different ways they would feel about that into it as well. As opposed to most sex scenes where you're like, "Ugh, this is awkward and terrible," or it's boring, or whatever it is. This was a scene. It was acting. It was not just taking your clothes off. It was something that was a true performance scene because of the circumstances of it. 
 
 The other thing that's interesting as well is the desexualization of sex that happens in Gilead [the name of the dystopian society in the series]. Men and women aren't allowed to enjoy sex. You're not supposed to enjoy having an orgasm, and we see in coming episodes that come into play for June. The right to be a human who enjoys sex is taken away, and how would that make one feel? Taking back that ownership of enjoying sex is something that is important and just another right that's been taken away. 
 
 Todd VanDerWerff 
 
 The camera is right in your face for much of this show, so much so that it catches if your eyebrow moves even a millimeter. It really doesn’t leave you any space to have a false moment. Is that exciting for you? 
 
 Elisabeth Moss 
 
 It's awesome. It makes my job so much better and so much easier. If you're playing a character who can't speak [freely], I can think things and the camera sees them. If I swallow, you see it. 
 
 I've seen all the episodes, and I've seen them many, many times. When I first watch scenes, it's always really interesting for me because things happen in my face or something will twitch in my neck, and I wasn't doing that on purpose. That's just me internalizing emotion, and that's just me feeling things but not being able to say them or trying not to show them. 
 
 For me, that sort of relationship happens between you and the camera regardless of what scene you're doing, even if the camera's all the way at the other end of the street. To have that relationship be [so close], it's like you're one body, the [director of photography] or [director Reed Morano] or whoever was operating the camera. 
 
 The way that the matte box [around the lens] is, it sort of shuts everything else out so you can't even see anything. Then they're moving with you as well. You end up feeling like you're one entity. I love it. We'd do other [wider] shots, but then we'd always redo it with what we called our Offred lens. Any time it came in, I would always be like, "Oh, good, good, good, perfect. Now I can actually show what I'm feeling." 
 
 The Handmaid’s Tale is now streaming on Hulu.
– Halloween costumes based on popular TV shows usually do well their first year out, but one new getup was nixed before the first pumpkin was carved. The Daily Dot reports Yandy.com, a retail site known for its sexy costumes, yanked one based on the Hulu series The Handmaid's Tale after "confusion and disgust" was the main reaction to it online. The costume, labeled "Yandy Brave Red Maiden Costume" and listing for $64.95, consisted of a short red dress, matching red cape, and white bonnet. The sultry-looking blonde model sporting the costume wore black high heels. The accompanying description: "An upsetting dystopian future has emerged where women no longer have a say. However, we say be bold and speak your mind in this exclusive Brave Red Maiden costume." This all prompted an outcry on Twitter, namely because the concept behind the Hulu show, based on the Margaret Atwood novel, revolves around handmaidens who are raped and forced to carry pregnancies to term for elite families. Others tried to make light of it, noting that knockoffs of the handmaiden costumes are often worn at protests advocating for women's rights. And that seems to have been Yandy's original intent, at least according to a statement it put out after the pushback started. "It has become obvious that our … [costume] is being seen as a symbol of women's oppression, rather than an expression of women's empowerment," it said, adding that the costume has been pulled.