HOMGURG HERESY??

[tonyb]

Actually only the edges are exposed to light as the roll of ribbon sits exposed while the interior portions are covered by multiple layers. Hence fading due mostly to UV from light exposure shows up as slightly faded edges. You may experience the same phenomena in a much faster time frame if you have used roll film(with the paper backing such as 120/220) and load and unload under bright conditions. Shows exposure on some of the edges when developed.

Makes sense, although I have seen whole (entirely unused) rolls of ribbon with only the edges discolored. But both edges. Could be that those rolls were were stacked atop one another or shelved side by side or packed in fairly tightly in one manner or another (likely, that), but I'd think that if light had reached the edges, at least a portion of the outermost layers would also have been exposed to light. And it seems that only one edge would be discolored, the one that was exposed to light, unless that roll was left upright by its lonesome near some source of sunlight.

If what I've seen is fading due to exposure to light, it didn't manifest itself in a lighter color, but rather a reddish tint. (I'm talking lighter colored ribbons here. If it has happened with darker ribbons, well, I couldn't see it.) I suppose (pure speculation) that light has different effects on different dyes, so washing out one shade may leave a redder color visible. [huh]

It's also possible that gunk in the air has settled on the rolls over the years and is oh so slightly visible as a discoloration at the edge. But then, I'd think that in that case the discoloration would be only on the upper edge of the uppermost roll in the stack (or what had been the uppermost roll on the stack, when those rolls of ribbon were left undisturbed for an awfully long time), and that's not what I see.

 

[tonyb]

Other possible explanations

This guy seems to know a thing or two about this stuff, although I lack the knowledge to vouch for that.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/dec/30/fabric-staining-color-change-may-seem-as-as-a/

Atmospheric gases, he says, might be the culprit.

Of course, the problem with this theory (in the case of rolls of old hatband ribbon) is that only one edge would have been exposed to much of that atmosphere, seeing how all those rolls beneath the uppermost (or outermost) one in the stack (or row) would be "smothered" by the others and therefore less exposed to those gases. No? Beats me.

 

[rlk]

Definitely other pollutants too in the atmosphere-- dust, acids, etc which can only reach the edges and outer layer. And colors will respond differently. I would expect a roll that was really undisturbed to fade more on the top (fully exposed)edge if the bottom is protected but even an offset in a stack would increase edge exposure.

 

[tonyb]

A few years I was entrusted with a hat that had belonged to a friend's mother's husband (couldn't really call him a stepfather, seeing how the friend's mother hooked up with the fellow well after the kids had grown up and moved out). On the old guy's passing his widow was content to leave his hat where he had left it, on a hook on a hall tree near a window.

When the hat was handed off to me it was unevenly faded, with the part of it left exposed to direct sunlight quite noticeably lighter in color than the rest of it. What can you do about this? I was asked. Not much, I said, except for cleaning it up some (the hat had acquired a healthy layer of dust during its time on that hook). I didn't wish to risk further damaging the hat, considering its sentimental value. And I was a whole lot less experienced with this stuff than I am now. So I brushed it thoroughly and naphtha dunked it and sanded it ever so slightly, in the hopes the fading didn't extend deep into the felt. No such luck.

 

[Mav]

I know I may be called a hat heretic by some here on this forum for even considering such customization plans,

I'm not a Homburg guy, but that's a great looking hat. Let it be a Homburg.

 

[suitedcboy]

I can see all sides to this but I think the one that carries the most weight is the OP's statement of having one like it already and liking and wearing fedoras more. It seems there are ample Homburgs and they go for little as there seems few buyers and bidders.
An ugly behemoth of an old car sitting in a barn under cover is of no real use to anyone but take that and chop and channel it and change it to a 500 horse engine with a modern gearbox and some modern brakes and you'll drive it and the people that see it will appreciate it too (mostly).
Of course if he was going to take a grey Whippet or Hanover Square etc, and turn it into a Homburg I'd be all over him like stink on feces.

 

[Bustercat]

Shoot. While you have the scissors out...