Barb writes:
As far as I know (and Matt can correct me), the "little kilt" dates from earlier than Victorian times. It's my understanding that what we consider traditional kilts evolved in the mid 1700s in the British Highland regiments from the earlier great kilts, and, by the time the end of the 1700s had arrived, the kilt with stitched knife pleats, buckles, and straps was pretty much as it is today.
Yes and no. It all depends on how you define the terms "kilt" and "little kilt" and how picky you want to be with the particulars.

The feilidh-mhor (great kilt) we can document as early as 1594. I call this the grandfather of the kilt.

The feilidh-beag (little kilt) came about sometime between the late-1600s and the mid-1700s depending on whose opinion you want to go with, and was essentially the lower half of the feilidh-mhor. Sometimes this is Anglicized phillabeg. It's still an untailored garment. I call this the father of the kilt.

The tailored kilt came about at the end of the eighteenth century. The earliest one was know of is documented to 1794. I consider this the birth of the modern kilt, but it was not the exact same as we know it today.

In a nutshell, here are the main differences. Like the feilidh-mhor and feilidh-beag before it, the first tailored kilts had 4 yards of cloth. Most modern kilts have about 8. The first tailored kilts were box pleated. Most modern kilts are knife pleates. The first tailored kilts were made selvedge-to-selvedge. Most modern kilts have been made from cut cloth and so have a waist band. The first tailored kilts lacked many amenities like a lining, straps and buckles, and tapered pleats.

So it's not quite accurate to say that by the end of the 1700s the kilt was pretty much as we know it today. It underwent further fashion evolutions throughout the course of the nineteenth century. I think it fair to say that by the end of the nineteenth century the kilt was pretty much as we know it.

Jimmy wrote:
Thomas Rawlinson and a tailor by the name of Parkinson are credited with the kilt or philla beag as we know it today. In the late 1780's Parkinson conceived the idea of making the lower half of the belted plaid a separate garment. Rawlinson ordered the first suit. His appearance in public in this suit started a major stampede toward wearing highland regalia. His outfit consisted of an eight yard kilt, pleated in back, with a flat panel in front and a large shoulder plaid, that took the place of the yards of material in the belted variety. This shoulder plaid became mostly decorative. You can still see it today, swinging from the shoulders of pipe band members.
This is a different version of the Rawlinson story than you usually see. The one I'm familiar with says that Thomas Rawlinson opened an iron-smelting factory in the Highlands around the year 1730. His workers all dressed in the belted plaids, which proved too hot and cumbersome for close work in his factory. He solved the problem by cutting the garment in half. The lower part could now be worn separately and the upper part discarded when coming indoors. This is considered proof that an Englishman invented the Scottish national dress.
The problem with this story is that we know of numerous illustrations of Highlanders wearing the only the bottom part of the belted plaid that date long before Rawlinson ever set foot in Scotland. Remember that the belted plaid consisted of two widths of material stitched together. If one neglects to stitch the two together, and only the bottom 4 yards are worn, pleated and belted around the waist, the resulting garment is called the feilidh-beag (little wrap). The word is often spelled in English “phillabeg.” I will not go into detailed evidence of the wearing of the phillabeg here, but I will say that there is some suggestion of its use in the late 17th century, and it was definitely being worn in the early 18th century. It most likely came about as a natural evolution of the belted plaid and Rawlinson probably observed its and quickly deduced its usefulness in his situation and introduced it among his workers.

My two cents!
Matt