The 'effortless style' myth is the reason you can't get dressed.

Here's a scenario for you.

Kendall Jenner is at a petrol station.

It looks like she's just topping up her tank, on her way to some appointment or photoshoot.

But it's so much more than that. It's a chance for her to showcase her everyday style.

Clad in straight leg jeans, a white tee, a Yankees cap and loafers, she's the picture of casual cool. Her look? A total afterthought. But doesn't she look so damn chic? Just out there pumping petrol?

Watch: Dress trends for 2024 you can't ignore. Post continues below.

Women everywhere register the look as it pops up across their social media apps. They save it to folders labelled "style" or "inspo", perhaps screenshot it as a reference for later.

This is how I want to look when I leave the house, they think. This effortless.

But the thing about Kendall Jenner at a petrol station is that it's not effortless at all.

Her outfits — even her most casual ones — are a collaboration with Hollywood stylist Dani Michelle, who shares the pap shots on her own Instagram as evidence of her work.

Kendall's personal style is not an accident or an afterthought, it's a curated artefact.

These fleeting glimpses of the model's off-duty looks have become such a phenomenon, that Michelle was tapped to work with luxury brand Bottega Veneta on a tabloid-style fashion campaign featuring Jenner in the label's new collection, shot on the streets of LA.

Image: Bottega Veneta.

She's also the woman behind Daisy Edgar Jones' recent style makeover, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's most enviable outfit selfies, and more or less everything Hailey Bieber wears.

So no, we should not be fooled by celebrity street style. The dream of looking that good, that easily, is just that — a mirage.

The myth of 'effortless style' is one women have been sold for decades. From magazines giving their tips on dressing like a chic French woman (that indefinable je ne sais quoi!) to A-listers telling us they dress "based on mood", to Instagram accounts dedicated to "getting the look" of a Kaia Gerber or Zoe Kravitz.

It's fair to say we've all been styling ourselves under a misapprehension — because to achieve an A-list level of effortlessness actually requires… quite a lot of effort.

The truth is, people with full-time glam squads are not dressing instinctually. They're dressing intentionally. That's the difference.

This is not to discredit the women wearing the clothes, or suggest they have no say in what they wear. Of course, certain celebrities are innately stylish and have a budget that affords them very nice clothes and accessories.

It's more a reminder that many of them also benefit from the knowledge and expertise of stylists, PR teams and "image architects".

And most of us do not.

Once I figured this out, once the penny really dropped, I stopped trying to channel Kendall completely and switched my tactic.

Because if you want to dress like a celebrity, you have to think like a stylist.

Quick pep talk: It's not that your wardrobe is broken, or lacks the vital elements to *look* effortless. It's how you're wearing the pieces. It's the overall execution of the look.

Fifi Milne is a former fashion editor turned personal shopper who shows you how to buy less and style it better on her Instagram channel.

In a recent post, the Sydneysider demonstrated how a "simple" outfit can be elevated through small but thoughtful tweaks.

The post featured Milne in a white t-shirt, jeans and a jumper paired with pointy shoes. She emphasised how the darker denim felt as casual as light blue jeans, "yet a bit chicer."

"They're as versatile as plain old boring black pants, but a bit more 'farshun' and relaxed," she wrote.

"Think of your white tee as the foundation piece of your wardrobe. The plain canvas you build on," Fifi continued, followed by a list of tips to take your tee to new, stylish heights:

Always tuck it in.

Elevate the look with a camel designer belt.

Keep the jeans long and slouchy.

Add a white shoe for contrast.

It's okay to match your bag and shoes.

Plus many more fashion cues, all serving to prove my point that even the most basic look comes together with a combination of thought and effort.

Ultimately, as Fifi attests, it does become more intuitive. Once you've got the building blocks, you can start to really play with them.

And now that I've been let in on the secret, I've reframed my own approach to getting dressed entirely.

Instead of expecting to be able to throw on clothes and leave the house looking effortlessly cool, I put much more thought into achieving that sense of cool through my styling (well, as much as my toddler allows.)

I've figured out the best place to half-tuck my tees and shirts to look like an afterthought.

I've started styling my jewellery around my outfit on a daily basis, considering what necklaces create the perfect cool-girl stack, and which earrings look "accidentally" mismatched.

I have a "styling jumper" which exists solely for the purpose of being thrown around my shoulders to add polish to a t-shirt and jeans.

Is it more work? Yes. But remember — styling is work. It's someone's entire job to make Kendall look that chill.

Now doesn't that make you feel a little better about not feeling like an off-duty supermodel at the petrol station?

Feature image: Instagram/@kendalljenner; @danixmichelle via @rosiehw