May is Mental Health Awareness Month, so our minds have been deeply invested in taking care—of ourselves, our hearts and minds, and of each other. So the timing really couldn’t have been better for Cardi B to debut the video for “Be Careful,” one of our favorite singles on her chart-topping album, Invasion of Privacy.
Of course, the single is best-known for being the soundtrack to Cardi’s baby-bump reveal last month on Saturday Night Live. But with this week’s official video release, Cardi paid homage to one of the best “hell hath no fury” narratives of all time with a visual nod to the Bride’s wedding in Kill Bill.
That said, it wouldn’t be Cardi B without a major fashion moment: For the video’s first scene, she and stylist Kollin Carter relied on good friend and go-to designer Christian Siriano to create an ethereal wedding look, detouring from the homespun look of Uma Thurman’s Beatrix Kiddo. Instead, Cardi’s look was slightly more “Like a Virgin”-era Madonna, in a voluminous (and pregnancy-camouflaging) heavily gathered strapless white chiffon ball gown complemented with layers of rhinestone necklaces and a flowing platinum wig.
The custom creation made it there just under the wire; according to the New York Post’s Page Six, Siriano’s team worked on the dress until the eleventh hour in their New York studio, finishing it just in time to pack onto a flight for a 2 a.m. call time at the video shoot’s desert location.
For Cardi’s fabulously funereal second look, Carter dressed her in a fringed-skirted vintage black Moschino dress and Gothic nipped-waist blazer by Ashi Studio, which were then paired with thigh-high boots and topped with a Saint Laurent disc hat plucked straight from the runway and customized by Carter himself with a glittering veil. The all-black-everything ensemble was dramatically offset (pun intended) by a sleek but elaborate flaming red ponytail, segmented with silver rings and swinging well past Cardi’s waist.
It was a strikingly strong look for a surprisingly sensitive song, which touches on the heartbreak and insecurities that infidelity can cause.
Kudos to Cardi, Carter and the team for putting such a stylish spin of scorned womanhood. As we all know, looking good is the best revenge.