.. in Victorian fashion. Cartridge pleats as shown in this 1841 skirt on the left (with 1770’s fabric!) piled up thickness of fabric to fit into the tiny waist.
After 1846 (sample right is 1845), flat pleating, and “modified box pleats” and various combinations around the waist allowed more fabric at the hemline, and so the much wider skirt as the 1840’s went into the 1850’s.