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ostume hiring businesses and beauty parlors are making a killing as parents rush to secure attires for their children to wear in observance Kartini Day at school.

Some parlors even ran out of costumes days before the celebration, which falls Tuesday.

Yanti, owner of DnG shop in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, said parents of kindergarten and elementary school students had already been enquiring about traditional costume hires two weeks ago.

The shop provides traditional attires originating from Indonesia's 33 provinces.

Costume rentals for three days, cost around Rp 50,000 (US$4.5).

"We ran out of costumes for elementary school students. There are only kindergarten kids' ones left," said Yanti, who has been running the shop for six years.

She said many of her customers came from outside her neighborhood.

Ponidi, who owns a beauty parlor in Bogor, said he ran out of costumes several days ago. His salon offers a selection of Balinese, Javanese and Sundanese attires.

"We still receive calls from some parents who need to rent clothes for their kids, but we cannot fulfill their orders," he said.

Griya Rahayu, one of the well-known bridal salons in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, provides tens of Javanese attires for children aged between 5 to 7 years old.

"The children costumes cost Rp 75,000 each to rent, including all the accessories," said owner Endang Takdir.

Chidren can have their hair and make up done for an extra Rp 75,000, she added.

"I have many bookings for make up and hairstyling for children tomorrow *Tuesday* morning."

Another bridal salon in Cipinang Muara, East Jakarta, said it only received a few orders for Kartini Day.

"We have about 20 sets of Javanese, Balinese, Betawi, Minangkabau and Sundanese costumes. Each cost Rp 60,000 to rent," said Redha, the shop owner.

"Most customers usually come to us at the last minute, the night before the Kartini celebration."

Retailer and costume rental outlet Costume arc, in Bintaro, South Jakarta, enjoyed higher profits as its stock sold out for the Kartini Day celebration.

The shop sells replicas of work outfits for children, such as police, pilot, soldier, doctor and firefighter uniforms. Traditional costumes, meanwhile, are only available for rental.

Although traditional costumes are usually the most sought after for the Kartini celebration, Costume arc received more orders for work outfits than traditional ones.

"Most parents ordered professional costumes for their children instead of traditional ones. They said their children schools' wanted to celebrate Kartini Day in a different way," said the shop owner, Dwi Sintiawaty.

Dwi said orders also came from parents living in cities outside Jakarta, like Pekalongan, Medan, Balikpapan and Manado.

"They found out about my shop through ads on the Internet," she said.