I would think about the thickness of the material to start with. The thicker the fabric is the thicker the pleats will be. Also pressing the pleats well may eliminate some of the bulk.

My aunt had a fabulous evening skirt with stacked and somehow cut away on the underside pleats that still hung perfectly.

I've come up blank trying to find a pattern for how they did this.

I'm wondering i it would possible to have the pleats begin just below the waistline? Would that be an option? Another thing I remembered is what we used to hip-stitched skirts. They were pleated at the waistline but then the pleats were top-stitched about 4-5" down to secure them in place. Possibly this might give the illusion of less bulk. Just thinking out loud. I hope this gives you another option.

I found a vintage pattern on Etsy that has box pleats in the gores of a princess dress ... that's enough to put me on the right track.

What I'm remembering, and it's been decades since I saw the thing, was probably a gored skirt with the box pleats starting below the waistband with some sort of lining supporting the tops of the pleats. But there were two or three pleats stacked in each gore for an astoundingly floofy skirt with a slim waistline.

That pattern might be vintage but it still very attractive even by today's fashions.