How many gingham summer dresses do you buy for primary school?

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Started looking at the gingham dresses to buy for summer term and was wondering how long people will use one dress for (so how many I need to buy).
Usually in a school week my DD will have a clean polo every day and use a skirt or pinafore 2 days, P.E. for the other one. So my line of thought is that she’ll need one for each day, plus a couple of extras in case I don’t start the wash until later on over a weekend?

I've got 6, one to be a spare in her bag, still find the top half gets filthy with pen every day so wash every thing daily. We dont get to wear PE kit though

We had 5. They werent expensive ones as they outgrew clothes so fast.

2 or 3, my kids wear PE kit 2 days a week and they wash and dry easily so not worth buying more.

Depends on the age and cleanliness of the child! Most infants kids come home covered in whiteboard pen and half their dinner. Upper KS2 children are hitting puberty and getting a bit whiffy. You might have more luck with Year 3/4 age, if they're generally quite clean, but I'd say a clean one every day will generally be needed. However, they dry really quickly in the summer and they might not wear them every day (PE etc - do they wear kit all day or change in school?). If they wear PE kit for 1 or 2 days, I'd say you'd get away with 2 or 3 if you do daily loads of washing. More if you don't do laundry daily.

We have 4 and I aim to do a wash mid-week. Occasionally that doesn't happen and she has to re-wear a dress.

One each day, even if it's visibly clean, it's probably been on the hall/toilet floor which are probably both as gross as each other.

We have three. So one a day for a week because they go in in PE kit two days a week. We could probably get away with two with a midweek wash but I'd rather not have to worry about it.

4, which works well as its two packs of 2.
However dd wears PE kit one day a week.

1. She wears PE kit two days a week. I do a wash every other day minimum.

Ive bought 3 x 2pack for DD1 (reception). She wears PE things one day a week but often comes home having changed her tshirt to the spare in her bag (without any real reason why 🙃) so i would like to have one a least in hand that can be a spare. I also only do a uniform wash once a week so like to have the whole week sorted.

Edit to add - i also have a younger DD2 so im less bothered about over buying now as I know it will get used for her when the time comes.

The one year I got them, DD needed one a day and they were all manky enough by the end of term that there was no chance of keeping them for next year. After that I started sending her in shorts and polo through summer, three pairs do a week with the polo's she already has, and their usual good for two years. Much more practical for running around and playing.

I have 3 but mine go in PE kit 2 days a week, so a clean one everyday. They dry really quick so I don’t need a spare as Mondays one will be washed well in advance of the following week. I also would send her in a polo and skirt if I didn’t have one clean.

The supermarket / M&S / JL ones are usually pretty indestructible and wash really well (apart from whiteboard marker pen, argh. Why do primary schools let the kids use this?)

So, second hand dresses are usually still very wearable, and are often even pristine, especially if you avoid the ones with “tennis style” collars (those collars tend to go grey). I used to buy a big bunch of them on eBay cheap at the start of the season - around 5-8 of them - for not too much money. DD would wear a new one per day and then every week or so I’d bung them all in a wash. They dry quickly in the summer, but they are so cheap to buy secondhand I would just get as many as you can. They can always be sold or donated on again afterwards - we used to give them to the school to pass on to kids in need.

As regards the quality - I found M&S and JL ones the best quality; Asda was also pretty good; Tu are a bit rough and ready but still last well. You can buy bundles of 5 in the supermarkets now, too.

DD had PE 2 x per week so we only need 2 dresses. They are very quick to wash and dry

Oh and the school summer dress bundles start coming up on eBay and Vinted around now onwards. (They’re often surprisingly good value to buy at the end of the summer season for the next year, if you have the space to store them.) The supermarket bundles usually only come in one style, but I found that DD liked a mix of different styles so eBay was a good bet and you can usually get them for £4 or less per dress that way. As I said above, they also often look just like new!

I always have 10 of everything because I work a lot and can't always get to washing at the weekend.

I would say DD hates the sleeves on most of the dresses she has for summer. She's very slight but the sleeves are always cut weirdly. I end up opening the under seam up on them.

Agree @Playstoppaws some primary school years when I knew I would have a really busy time with work, I would buy 10 from eBay and then only have to wash them in one big wash every 2 weeks. Usually though I’d find 5 plus a spare or two would do!

DD is now in secondary, and I miss the cute primary gingham dresses. So comfy and cool for the summer.

Thanks everyone, it seems like I was on the right thought train. I usually wash once a week but I don’t work Mondays which is why things can occasionally not be ready for the first day of school but are ok for the week if I’ve left it. My DD is in reception so her top half definitely comes home messy every day😂 I’ll get one for each day plus a couple of spares as they go in on P.E. day in kit already and wear it the whole day.

I used to buy 6 dresses, but now they go in PE kit twice a week, I get 4 - enough for a clean set of clothes every day plus a spare.

We have 3 - 2 days a week is PE kit uniform all day.