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A 10-year-old girl from Melbourne was all set to dress as the beloved fictional nanny Mary Poppins for her school’s Book Week parade. But instead of receiving the classic costume, her family opened the parcel to find an outfit depicting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

With the parade just days away, the mix-up sent the family scrambling to find a replacement Mary Poppins costume in time for Friday’s event.

According to the receipt, the order was placed on August 23, with CostumeBox offering same-day and express delivery options across Australia.

The youngster had ordered the retailer’s “Musical Nanny Deluxe” costume, priced at $60. The outfit includes a coat, skirt, hat and bow tie, with only an umbrella, shoes and stockings needed to complete the iconic look.

Instead, the family received a costume linked to Kim Jong Un. CostumeBox’s catalogue also features a dictator mask priced at $80, with its description promising that “everyone will know who you are.”

Furious and confused by the error, the girl’s mother contacted CostumeBox, which describes itself as “Australia’s #1 online retailer for costumes,” demanding an explanation.

“You sent me the wrong costume! My daughter needed the Mary Poppins costume for book week, and you send me a Kim Jong-un costume!” the parent wrote in an email, which was shared online by Aussie TV and radio presenter Jacqueline Felgate.

“What is the meaning of this?”

The mother also questioned how such a costume could have been sent to a 10-year-old preparing for a school event.

“This is unacceptable. She has her parade in two days,” the email stated.

“She’s absolutely gutted.”

The bizarre blunder quickly caught attention online, with Felgate appealing to her followers to help the family locate a Mary Poppins costume before the parade.

“Does anyone know where she can get a Mary one in time?” she wrote.

According to reports, News.com.au contacted CostumeBox for comment and was directed to a response from CEO Nikki Yeaman, who appeared to address the mix-up with a dose of humour.

“So … you can choose your own adventure on this one folks … either: ‘A small but determined communist uprising has occurred within our warehouse ranks. Rest assured, the rebellion has been quashed and our righteous capitalist order has been restored’. or; ‘A simple but regrettable human error has occurred in our warehouse where two address labels have been accidentally switched,’” Yeaman wrote.

Yeaman said the company moved swiftly after being contacted by the family.

“The Mary Poppins customer contacted us at 6 a.m. this morning, we responded to her at 9:05 a.m. and a new Mary Poppins costume was picked and packed by 9:35 a.m., ready to go out on the first truck today by Australia Post Express Post. All going to plan from now on, the costume should arrive tomorrow in time for the Book Week parade on Friday,” she continued.

She also explained that the customer who had actually ordered the Kim Jong costume was being contacted to determine whether the parcels had been switched.

“As for the Kim Jong customer, he is right now on his way to the post office to collect his parcel and confirm if he has indeed received Mary Poppins. If so, we are poised ready to send him out a new Kim Jong Mask, which he should also receive in time for his event this weekend. I hope this covers the matter for you all and the multiple news organizations who have contacted me this morning in their noble quest to report ‘The News That Matters.’ Cheers, Nikki CEO, Costumebox.com.au.”