Hi, I’m Megillicutti (Melissa Parks)—vintage dealer, collector, stylist and writer!
“Megillicutti” is what my sister called me growing up. When I began selling my vintage finds on eBay—over 20 years ago!—it became my user name. And it stuck with me when I started selling at flea markets and now as a dealer at a favorite Chicago antique store, Warehouse 55.
If you’re at a flea market and holler, “Hey, Megillicutti!” I’ll turn around. I’d love to chat with you. Because if you’re at a flea market (or an estate sale, resale shop or antique mall), we have something in common: we love the quest for unusual, beautiful and discarded items.
I’ve been collecting and arranging collections since I was 6.
It began with a flimsy, chocolate-stained napkin. Just one—from a childhood party. I decided one napkin wasn’t enough. I needed more. Many more. Enough to stuff a blue and green brocade Avon suitcase my mother no longer used to sell cosmetics. Super hero napkins. Cat napkins (LOTS of cat napkins). Napkins from my grandma’s Delta flight when she came to visit.
More was more then. More is more today.
Collecting is part of my DNA. Rejecting it, like rejecting my brown hair and green eyes, is impossible.
My collecting found its full form when I moved to Chicago from New Mexico 25 year ago and was introduced to flea markets (some of the best in the nation), antique malls (they’re ubiquitous in the Midwest!), and all manner of resale shops.
I’m a grump waking up before sunrise. But 4:30 am is never too early a wake-up call when there’s a market. Because the quest is the best, as I like to say (#TQITB—check out my hashtag on IG!).
What is it about vintage items that calls me—and probably you, too—to the quest? Why is the quest the best?
Of course, there’s the thrill of finding the treasure in a heap of trash. But for me, it’s mostly about the stories vintage items tell—and how we can extend those stories in our own home decor in artful and unique ways.
As a prop stylist, I visually tell stories with vintage and collected items. And as I writer, I dig deeper into the truths of those visual stories.
That’s why I’m here: To inspire you to collect from the heart, style your home with personality and authenticity, and elevate your everyday.
You can find my styling and writing on Instagram (@megillicutti), in Lived In Style Magazine, Flea Market Style Magazine, and Country Living magazine, as well as in Styling Beyond Instagram, and Lived In Style: The Art of Creating a Feel Good Home (Spring 2023).
FEATURES
Featured, Lived-In Style: The Art of Creating a Feel-Good Home,” April 2023
Featured, “Running a Vintage Business: How Do You Know What to Sell?” February 2023
Featured, Shondaland, “How to Embrace Slow Decorating in Your Home,” December 14, 2022
Featured, Styling Beyond Instagram: Take Your Prop Styling Skills from the Square to the Street, August 2022
Featured, Style Matters Podcast, “The Art of Living with Collections: Melissa Parks,” December 2021
Featured, Lived In Style Magazine, December 2020
Featured, Country Living Magazine, “Country in the City: A Chicago Treasure Trove," March 2019
Featured, Flea Market Style Magazine, “Pretty Little Things,” December 2019
Featured, Flea Market Style Magazine, “Golden Rules,” December 2018
Featured, Flea Market Style Magazine, “Shopping Kane County,” September 2018
Featured in Vogue, “Feast Your Eyes on the Next Design Must-Have: Antique Marble Apples, Bananas, and Grapes Galore,” October, 19, 2018
Featured, Flea Market Style Magazine, “Dealer Crush,” September 2017
