One day in 1912, Mrs. Witter, the president at Ewha School, came into sewing class with a bundle of white fabric in her hands. The students all looked closer, wondering whatit was. Mrs. Witter began handing out the items in her hands to her students. It was a weird-looking string made of white fabric. ¡°Okay students! Let¡¯s sew the string around the waist of your underskirts.¡± The students were dumbfounded.


They wondered why the teacher was telling them to sew this string onto their perfectly good underskirts. They were hesitant but did as they were told. ¡°Now put on the underskirts you¡¯ve just made. The straps will prevent your skirts from slipping down and make them very comfortable. ¡± However, the students would not give up their old underskirts that easily. The teacher had to inspect their underskirts during every gym class and recommend the use of the new underskirts every time.
It took 3 months for the girls to finally begin wearing the new garments.
Three more months passed and the girls returned to their homes during break and boasted to their families and friends about how comfortable these new underskirts really were. Thereafter, people began rushing to add straps to their underskirts and newly reformed slips began gaining nationwide popularity. The straps that we see today on Hanbok (Korean traditional costume) underskirts were born during this time.