First of all, I can't add or delete vertices or change vertex order because otherwise I'll mess up the UV mapping for this mesh, which I can't do anything about because it's applied by an external program (this is a skyrim model, the program is Outfit Studio).
This is what I'm dealing with. The left-hand side of the torso is all in one piece, but for whatever reason the right-hand side is multiple disconnected pieces. The unselected parts are the "seams" where the mesh splits.
This is what it looks like if I select everything.
And then if I apply smooth.
The left-hand side is fine because it's one piece, but if I smooth the right-hand side the pieces of the mesh end up shrinking. How do I get the right side looking like the left side without changing the vertices?