I managed! The dress turned out not too bad indeed, in fact I'm quite happy with the result! As always I sewed a seam only minutes before I rushed out the door, and as for now, the dress is only lined in the top. I'm afraid the seam allowances in the waist will suffer from yet another layer, as the pleats make the seam in the waist rather thick.
I shortened the waist with 1.5 cm, and due to my swayed back, I shortened the back piece 1 cm in the centre back, and evened out to the side seams. I also took in 1 cm on front/back piece under the arm and evened out to the waist. The bias band was too wide in my opinion, so I shortened the height with maximum 2 cm towards centre back.
I made a faux button placket from increased seam allowance on the back pieces, and when I attached the skirt I just made a fold and top-stitched. The zipper was therefore moved from centre back to the left side seam, and I inserted it with lapped technique.
The pattern is very easy to work with, however, I'm a bit surprised by the sizing. According to the size chart, I'm closer to a size 10 (39"/32"/41") in bust/waist, but when I compare the adjusted pattern pieces with the original pattern, I'm closer to a size 8. A possibility is, of course, that the pattern have taken boning into account, and therefore extra width to the pattern is added.