He proposed the idea of a rap to fill the middle eight, and suggested name-dropping classic film stars, so they quickly wrote a list of names and she recorded it immediately.

After presenting "Vogue" to Warner Bros. executives three weeks after Kostich's approach, all parties involved decided that the song was too good to be put on a B-side and should be released as a single.

The singer had been approached by director and co-star Warren Beatty to write a song that would fit her character's point of view, as she was "obsessed with speakeasies and movie stars and things like that", and the idea served as an inspiration for "Vogue".

[7] According to author Jason Hanley, by listening to the arrangement musical form of the track, it is clear how "it was purposefully constructed for the dance floor", as the first verse does not start until a minute and a half into the song.

[22] On Encyclopedia Madonnica, author Matthew Rettenmund stated that the lyrics "baptize the dance floor as a place where no boundaries exist"; he described a dance floor as a place where "rebirth is possible, where a new life based on gesticulation can replace motionless and emotionless reality and anyone can become if only for the duration of a song – or of one's stamina – a 'superstar'";[27] it is further evidenced by the lyrics "It makes no difference if you're black or white, if you're a boy or a girl".

[40] Select's Andrew Harrison considered it a "crushing house" song,[41] while for Adam Sweeting of The Guardian, the album is "topped and talled with its best tracks", respectively "He's a Man" and "Vogue".

"[44] Writing another review for the same publication, Michael MacCambridge stated that although "Vogue" was "terrific", it sounded like "a blatantly commercial appendage" to promote the soundtrack, and felt that it was not a representative single of the record.

[47] David Giles of Music Week stated that "it possesses a meatier groove than we've been used to", but felt that the "silly" rap section "reduces her to the level of the Beloved.

"[48] While offering a negative review of the album, Tony Parsons of The Daily Telegraph pointed out that "only 'Vogue', the recent numero uno knocked out as a bait to part of the tinies from their pocket money, passes for something like a Madonna record.

[58] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine, also reviewing the album as a whole, claimed that while the "hugely influential" song initially sounded "grossly out of place", it turns out to be "a fitting finale" for I'm Breathless.

[66] In the United States, "Vogue" debuted at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 on the issue dated April 14, 1990, and reached the top of the chart a month later, replacing Sinéad O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U".

[69][70] "Vogue" was ranked at number five on the Hot 100 year-end chart of 1990, and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in June 1990, for shipments of two million copies of the single.

It was present for a total of 21 weeks on the chart,[9] and was later certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) in 1990 for shipments of 70,000 copies of the single.

[96] Fincher recalled that he convinced Madonna to release a video for "Oh Father", but although he was happy with the result, the single's performance on the charts did not meet her label's expectations.

[98] The official auditions took place after a rushed casting call in Los Angeles, where hundreds of different sorts of dancers appeared and were whittled down within a few days, with Madonna also taking them out to clubs to make sure they "could deliver".

[99] Given the absence of Fincher's typically extensive pre-production routine, the video leans on static imagery, including shots that recall compositions by Art Deco painter Tamara de Lempicka, as well as Hollywood portrait photographers, such as Don English,[100] Eugene Robert Richee,[31] George Hurrell,[101] Whitey Schafer, Ernest Bachrach, Scotty Welbourne, László Willinger, Clarence Sinclair Bull,[95] and Horst P.

Edna Gundersen from USA Today called the visual "camp, glamour, sensuality and dress-you-up finery" and found Madonna's look in the video similar to that of Marilyn Monroe.

[109] Harriet Swift of Oakland Tribune shared a similar opinion, writing that Madonna had "never looked more like Marilyn Monroe than in this film, with her white-blond hair no rebelliously declasse dark roots showing this time", and considered that the clip was "so much slicker and more stylized than any other Madonna video", noting its "stylish camera angles, extremely sophisticated film editing and freeze-frame body posing", looking as if it "could have been photographed by the late Robert Mapplethorpe with its cool, glamorous surfaces and penchant for classical motifs.

[116] Rocco Papa of The Odyssey hailed it was "a tribute to an important part of the gay subculture" and "an example of Madonna helping build representation for the LGBTQ community".

[106] According to Lucy O'Brien on She Bop II: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop and Soul, Madonna "picked up on the exaggerated catwalk-model poses of a gay underground craze and turned it into a glorious celebration of image – the power of old-style movie – magazine editorial transferred to video" with "Vogue".

[119] In Queer Tracks: Subversive Strategies in Rock and Pop Music, Doris Leibetseder commented that the video portrayed "a particular relationship between gay subculture, Hollywood stars and feminist camp", and noted queer scholar Judith Butler criticized how "Vogue" "diluted the homosexual political elements for the straight public", explaining that the "gay dance elements" were portrayed by "usual male and female types (e.g. the civil servant, the school girl)".

[127] "Vogue" has been performed on eight of Madonna's concert tours: Blond Ambition (1990), The Girlie Show (1993), Re-Invention (2004), Sticky & Sweet (2008–2009), MDNA (2012), Rebel Heart (2015–2016), Madame X (2019–2020), and Celebration (2023–2024).

[128] Slant Magazine felt that the performance was "stripped down to the bare basics" and "came closest to capturing the essence of the gay ballroom scene the lyrics were inspired by: presentational, preening, and all about the pose".

Slant Magazine praised the singer for "opening her performance at the Super Bowl, arguably the most heterosexual audience she's ever appeared in front of, with perhaps the gayest anthem in her catalogue".

[149] For the performance of the track on the MDNA tour which occurred the same year, Madonna wore an ensemble consisting of a suit and a cage corset with conical bra cups, while the dancers were dressed in black and white avant-garde outfits.

[190] It was later added to the setlist of Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour in 2023, with the singer changing the lyrics at the concert at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, to address Madonna attending the show that night.

[191] That same year, Puerto Rican singer and rapper Bad Bunny sampled "Vogue" on the track "Vou 787", included on his sixth studio album Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana.

"[211] James Rose of Daily Review agreed, writing that with the song Madonna began "a phase of her career that oscillates between cynical self-exploitation and courageous self-expression.

Raunchy videos, explicitly themed lyrics and boudoir beats became de rigueur for the lady now arguably bearing the biggest name in popular music.

[211] Liam Hess of Vogue commented that "this subcultural movement had officially boiled over into the zeitgeist" as "many were mimicking the playful, exaggerated gestures of the Harlem ballrooms" around the world.