Ribbon falls in Class 26, sewing & trims, and depending on what exactly you sell it can also fall in Class 16 or Class 28 or Class 24. Everything below is read from the USPTO's own list of accepted descriptions, not from an opinion about where it belongs.
Searching the USPTO Trademark ID Manual for ribbon returns 57 accepted descriptions, and most of them sit in Class 26. The manual is the list of identifications the office has already approved, so wording taken from it is pre-approved and settles the class at the same time.
The class follows from the identification you write, so "what class am I in" is really "what exactly do you sell". How the class system works covers the rest.
Sewing notions, lace, ribbons, buttons, or hair accessories.
29 accepted descriptions in the manual mention ribbon. For example:
Paper products, printed materials, books, or office and art supplies.
23 accepted descriptions in the manual mention ribbon. For example:
Toys, games, or sporting and exercise equipment.
3 accepted descriptions in the manual mention ribbon. For example:
Fabrics, bedding, towels, or other textile home goods.
1 accepted description in the manual mention ribbon. For example:
Ribbon appears in 4 classes because what you make, what it is made of and the service of selling it are separate classes. Pick the descriptions above that match what you actually do.
Making ribbon is Class 26; a shop or online store that sells it is retail store services (Class 35), and a business that does both files in both.
Sewing notions and trimmings: buttons and zippers are here. The clothing they are sewn onto is Class 25.
The class decides what a registration covers; it does not decide whether the name is available. Relatedness is judged on the identifications, so a conflict can sit in a class you never looked at: the same name in a different industry.
Check whether your name is clear for ribbon Searches the live USPTO register, including sound-alike and meaning-alike names. First search $2, then $5.Ribbon sits in Class 26, sewing & trims. That is where the USPTO's own ID Manual puts it: 29 accepted descriptions mentioning ribbon fall in Class 26. Depending on exactly what you sell it can also fall in Class 16 or Class 28 or Class 24.
You file in every class you actually use the mark in, and the USPTO charges its fee per class. Selling a product and also running an online store for it is two classes, not one. Filing in classes you do not use is worse than filing in too few: an application has to be supported by real use or a genuine intent to use.
No. The class decides what a registration covers. Availability turns on whether someone already holds a similar mark for related goods, and relatedness is judged on what the identifications say rather than on the class number, so marks in different classes can still conflict.
Not what you sell? Search the class finder for your own wording, or browse all 45 classes.