Victorian fitting fail

The Victorian polonaise is not playing nice. *gives piles of mock-ups the evil eye* It's really my fault, I'm just not used to fitting a Victorian shape and I don't know the construction of the period well enough to make good guesses of how to get the results I want and still make it period correct (like I can with the 18th century). But I'm blaming the Polonaise anyway 'cause it shouldn't always be about me right?

I really don't have time for this. If I can't get it sorted out today I'm going to have to ditch my design and drastically change what I'm doing. It would be pretty easy if I went really early 1870s, made the front skirt separate (covered with a belt and peplum) and made the neckline square. That would get rid of all my difficult areas. But I'm feeling stubborn about making the TV pattern work for me. I'm not sure why...