Okay, NOW it's done!

I managed to scrounge enough fabric from scraps to make the belt for my Peterman Knockoff dress. And, since the consensus was that the short length was more flattering, I cut off the extra 4" that had been folded into the hem and redid the bottom edge more neatly. I also washed the dress, which seems to have removed most of the wrinkles.

So here's the original dress I bought years ago from J. Peterman:

And here's the finished copy:

Note the different shoes, too.

The only real issue I have with the dress is the "bat wings" connecting the bodice and sleeve areas. The original dress doesn't have these, and I'm trying to figure out if I can just edit them out of the pattern when I make this again (yes, there's another one in the works... this time in a soft denim).

Here's the view with my arms down:

The extra fabric in the "bat wings" does bunch up under my arms. Yes, it's comfortable, but I think less fabric there would look better. The original dress is fairly tight in the armscye area, but not restrictive. Maybe I just need to play around with the draft a bit more.
In any case, thanks SO much for all the comments; they were really very helpful.