I always thought that "real" kilts had 8 yards of tartan in them, and just assumed that kilts "always' had 8 yards in them.

Then I did some reading about the dress of the Highland regiments and discovered that ORs kilts in the early 19th century had only around 4 yards.

I can't find the passage now, but somewhere in a book there was a table showing the dates which the tartan allowance for soldiers was increased to six yards then to eight. As I recall the increase to six yards was in the mid-19th century, to 8 yards late in the 19th century.

After wearing my massive "tank" made of nearly 9 yards of heavyweight tartan, and then feeling how much more comfortable I am with my other kilt which has around 6 yards, I wonder why on earth the Army kept upping the amount of tartan.

Is there any documentation on this process? What reasons were given for the increase in yardage?