If you are looking for the "swish" that you get from an 8 yard, knife pleated, heavy weight wool kilt on parade, then you need to get an 8 yard, knife pleated, heavy weight wool and parade around in it! :-)

Seriously, a four-yard box pleated kilt does not have quite the same "swish factor" as an eight yard kilt, simply because you don't have all that weight in the back to swing back and forth.

In the average 8 yard kilt, you might have something less than two yards total in the front aprons, and the remaining 6 plus yards pleated in the back. This is where your swish comes from.

In the average 4 yard kilt, you have about as much cloth in the front as in the back of the kilt, making it a more balanced garment, and more comfortable to wear overall. But yes, you do lose some of that swish.

Aye,
Matt