Hunter Odom’s favorite shirt just happens to be a hand-me-down from his father. A little worn out from attending multiple events, it now proudly hangs in his home office. Odom says he was drawn to the shirt because of its little secret. The old formal button-up looks totally normal under a jacket. But, once that outer layer gets shed, a playful pattern is revealed on the back panel.
“Once you get loose a little bit and you want to have a little bit of fun, you can take off your jacket and it transforms the shirt,” Odom says. “You’re just ready to party with it. … I had this one shirt, and I was like, ‘This is too good to not share.’”
It inspired his own brand, Second Line Shirts, which encourages wearers to “outstand” in their second lines. Just like that original inherited top, Odom’s shirts have funky sleeves and backs with a pristine white fabric front perfect for formal events followed by a party.
“Everybody says it’s kind of like a mullet,” Odom laughs. “Normal on the front, party in the back.”
Odom recently took one of his original designs, the “Party All The Time” pattern, and created a full-bleed version with the help of his wife, Jaime Glas Odom. (Yes, the Queen of Sparkles.) The result: a lightweight, bold short-sleeved button-up primed for spring festivals and summer shindigs. This special Second Line Shirt design launched on Queen of Sparkles’ website, and many sparkle-loving female shoppers rejoiced over the playfully patterned menswear.
“It was wildly successful,” Odom says. “(Jaime) has a pretty standout-ish style. The idea is really to try to find where our two styles kind of match and maybe do something with that. This shirt was that collaboration. It’s a little bit more subtle, but there are definitely some rhinestones on the shirt. That’s the Queen of Sparkles touch. But the pattern is definitely one of the O.G. Second Line designs.”
“(Jaime) has a pretty standout-ish style. The idea is really to try to find where our two styles kind of match and maybe do something with that. This shirt was that collaboration.”
[—Hunter Odom, founder of Second Line Shirts]
Odom says he’s playing with signature markers for Queen of Sparkles’ future Second Line Shirt releases, such as front plackets and chest pockets with black trim.
More full-patterned shirts with “summer-tailored” fabrics could be on the way. And Odom teases that Queen of Sparkles fans should watch out for additional complementary men’s clothing from the brand, which he’d help out with, of course.
Odom credits his wife as an integral part of making his debut into the fashion world. In fact, he divulged his shirt company dreams on one of their first dates. At the time, Jaime had her flame-resistant line, HauteWork, and encouraged Odom to turn his brand into a reality. In 2018, he finally launched the Second Line Shirts online shop, which carries T-shirts and tuxedo and suit shirts.
Over the years, his brand brought a hidden surprise to many formal menswear outfits for weddings, Mardi Gras balls and more. Odom helped grooms to create custom Second Line Shirts with sourced fabrics or original designs. And, he even wore Second Line Shirts during his own nuptials and during his bachelor trip.
But this isn’t his full-time gig.
“I’m a lawyer by day,” he says. “And still to this day, I’ve never had any court case that is nearly as stressful as having a groom try on his custom-made shirt in front of his bride.”
These days, Odom houses his inventory at the Queen of Sparkles warehouse and headquarters off of Perkins Road and does most of the other work for his clothing biz from his laptop. Though the newest Second Line Shirt lives on the Queen of Sparkles site, he still has his original webpage up and running with the same mullet-like shirts he started with.
“I do think the potential is there, for sure,” he says. “This new revamp really helped me realize there is a space here for these short-sleeve shirts. Guys want to wear something that’s fun. And when they see their wives dressing up in sequins, maybe they don’t necessarily want to be all sequins—but have a little occasional touch of it here and there.”
Odom might not be diving into a designer career, but he hopes to continue to grow the idea that all started with that secondhand tuxedo shirt. It might even be a little sparklier than he originally had in mind.
This article was originally published in the April 2025 issue of 225 Magazine.
