Quote Originally Posted by lukeyrobertson View Post
OK, so why the change, exactly? Is it a kind of evolutionary thing? It can't be for economical reasons. Anyone know? Or, was it merely new trends in fashion set in military styling? Thoughts on this, anyone?
I doubt that we will ever know why for certain but I don't think it was started by the military rather they followed the trend. All the earlier examples I've seen that use more cloth have all been civilian kilts.

I suspect that it was a fashion thing and as will all fashion it followed the trend of the upper classes. It might be that some early-mid 19th century kilt maker used more cloth on an important customer, either to make him seem more important by being able to afford more cloth, or because he/the customer felt the need for more.