Wrinkles are a fact of life; unless you're moonlighting as a mannequin, your pants will be in motion, and when they're in motion, wrinkles rear their crinkly heads. While fashion aficionados at times embrace the crinkle -- especially in linens or on summery chinos, a little wrinkle lends your ensemble a carefree pop -- wrinkles certainly don't flatter sleek styles or formal affairs. Keeping wrinkles from showing up on your pants as you wear them calls for a multi-pronged approach that starts with smart laundering and continues during day-to-day wear.

Wear pants that fit you properly. Don bottoms that sit at your waist rather than fall about the hips, and avoid a baggy seat or crotch. Make sure your pants' hem falls right atop your foot rather than bunching up around your shoes. A proper fit helps your pants avoid bunching up or stretching out during wear, which in turn prevents wrinkles from appearing.

Launder your pants with wrinkle prevention in mind. Pack your washing machine loads loosely, add about a cup of white distilled vinegar to your wash's rinse cycle and throw in a few tennis balls to fluff clothes in the dryer. These techniques not only help remove wrinkles from your duds, they relax the fabric to ward off wrinkles during daily wear.

Spray your pants with a light coat of starch or fabric finish spray, per the manufacturer's instructions, before you iron your pants to increase their crispness and bolster their ability to hold their shape throughout the day. Go with heavy starch for jeans, natural cottons and linens and fabric finish spray for blends, tight weaves and polyesters.

Apply a wrinkle releaser to your pants before wearing them -- as these products vary by brand, follow the manufacturer's instructions for application. Wrinkle releasers not only remove wrinkles, they help ward them off during wear by holding the fabric's fibers in place. Releasers serve as an alternative to starch, offering a more flexible hold.

Give your trousers a slight upward pull, bringing them up a few inches by pulling from the thigh, before you sit down. This little trick -- particularly important for men -- prevents the pants from wrinkling around the knees.

Keep cool and dry throughout the day. Heat and moisture cause wrinkles, as they weaken the hydrogen bonds that keep fabric fibers in place. Carry an umbrella if there's a possibility of rain, and avoid particularly humid situations. To avoid sweat and crinkling, get up from your chair every few minutes on humid days and walk around a bit to keep wrinkles from setting in. Stick with breathable fabrics such as linen or cotton blends to discourage sweat.