Vintage-ier than 90s refashion

I'm aware that 90s vintage is actually a thing, but when I bought this circa '93, long, empire waist dress at Goodwill last fall, I thought I could do better. I wanted to make a  40s style dress. Here's the before pic...
Wait, let me explain. I never took a took an official "before" picture. I thought I did, but I was mistaken. I'm not what you'd call "organized" or "a functional adult." So, pardon my theft, Etsy seller whom I borrowed a photo from.

My dress looked like that, except it's navy blue with tiny white polka dots and white buttons. Can I draw your attention to those little strips of fabric on the side?

You can barely see them; so sorry. See, there's a belt like sash buttoned onto each side and it ties in the back. That's kinda a cool idea. Except it was accentuating an empire waist style; that means that the waist comes high to accentuate one's gut. The last time I wore one, a 5 year old girl asked about the baby in my belly...

Sorry, not an actual GIF of Homer backing into the bushes in shame

I comforted myself by realizing that two other kindergarten teachers were pregnant, as was this little girl's reading tutor. She was probably just assuming. But, no empire waists ever! I had an idea for solving the problem. My ideas don't usually work.
You know how I like long dresses? Not that long. I cut off some of the hem. Then, I used that material to make a sash.

Those little belt tie things were only connected with buttons, so I unbuttoned them. The dress had those little string belt loops already.

Damn it! I do this stuff at night. That's why you can't see shit in my pictures. How about if I try and explain? By using a wide sash around the natural waist, it draws the eye down to give that area accentuation.
How about that lovely sweetheart neckline? It's cute..but why don't I like it? It just seems very dated here, like someone I would've worn in eighth grade.

I decided to just pin down and then sew the offending shape into a v neck. Kind of a low neck, I guess I'll have to look at cami options for school wear. I also removed those two useless buttons.
I used those two little waist straps, after all. I attached them lengthwise, down the sleeve and sewed on a little red button through the button hole.

Do you see what I did there? I wanted to add pops of red and create a little visual interest. I love those little flat buttons without the holes. Oh, and I used some of my favorites from my stash to fancy up the front.

I've got one of those on each side of the neckline. I like how they kind of look like a bow, kind of like a flower. Let's see how this thing works...

I'm calling it a win. I think it's cute and kinda looks 40s era.

That picture on the left is what you get when you try to do a cheesy "blowing kisses" shot. Me on the right is looking on in shame.