diff --git a/cliff/display.py b/cliff/display.py
index 82b71d61..b4948de6 100644
--- a/cliff/display.py
+++ b/cliff/display.py
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ class DisplayCommandBase(command.Command):
             title='output formatters',
             description='output formatter options',
         )
+        self._formatter_group = formatter_group
         formatter_choices = sorted(self._formatter_plugins.names())
         formatter_default = self.formatter_default
         if formatter_default not in formatter_choices:
diff --git a/cliff/lister.py b/cliff/lister.py
index e39c5368..93a6b860 100644
--- a/cliff/lister.py
+++ b/cliff/lister.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 """Application base class for providing a list of data as output.
 """
 import abc
+import operator
 import six
 
 from . import display
@@ -31,13 +32,41 @@ class Lister(display.DisplayCommandBase):
     def formatter_default(self):
         return 'table'
 
+    @property
+    def need_sort_by_cliff(self):
+        """Whether sort procedure is performed by cliff itself.
+
+        Should be overridden (return False) when there is a need to implement
+        custom sorting procedure or data is already sorted."""
+        return True
+
     @abc.abstractmethod
     def take_action(self, parsed_args):
         """Return a tuple containing the column names and an iterable
         containing the data to be listed.
         """
 
+    def get_parser(self, prog_name):
+        parser = super(Lister, self).get_parser(prog_name)
+        group = self._formatter_group
+        group.add_argument(
+            '-s', '--sort-column',
+            action='append',
+            default=[],
+            dest='sort_columns',
+            metavar='SORT_COLUMN',
+            help=("specify the column(s) to sort the data (columns specified "
+                  "first have a priority, non-existing columns are ignored), "
+                  "can be repeated")
+        )
+        return parser
+
     def produce_output(self, parsed_args, column_names, data):
+        if parsed_args.sort_columns and self.need_sort_by_cliff:
+            indexes = [column_names.index(c) for c in parsed_args.sort_columns
+                       if c in column_names]
+            if indexes:
+                data = sorted(data, key=operator.itemgetter(*indexes))
         (columns_to_include, selector) = self._generate_columns_and_selector(
             parsed_args, column_names)
         if selector:
diff --git a/cliff/tests/test_lister.py b/cliff/tests/test_lister.py
index 9434ce63..05061db8 100644
--- a/cliff/tests/test_lister.py
+++ b/cliff/tests/test_lister.py
@@ -40,10 +40,15 @@ class ExerciseLister(lister.Lister):
     def take_action(self, parsed_args):
         return (
             parsed_args.columns,
-            [('a', 'A'), ('b', 'B')],
+            [('a', 'A'), ('b', 'B'), ('c', 'A')],
         )
 
 
+class ExerciseListerCustomSort(ExerciseLister):
+
+    need_sort_by_cliff = False
+
+
 class TestLister(base.TestBase):
 
     def test_formatter_args(self):
@@ -53,20 +58,23 @@ class TestLister(base.TestBase):
         parsed_args = mock.Mock()
         parsed_args.columns = ('Col1', 'Col2')
         parsed_args.formatter = 'test'
+        parsed_args.sort_columns = []
 
         test_lister.run(parsed_args)
+
         f = test_lister._formatter_plugins['test']
         self.assertEqual(1, len(f.args))
         args = f.args[0]
         self.assertEqual(list(parsed_args.columns), args[0])
         data = list(args[1])
-        self.assertEqual([['a', 'A'], ['b', 'B']], data)
+        self.assertEqual([['a', 'A'], ['b', 'B'], ['c', 'A']], data)
 
     def test_no_exist_column(self):
         test_lister = ExerciseLister(mock.Mock(), [])
         parsed_args = mock.Mock()
         parsed_args.columns = ('no_exist_column',)
         parsed_args.formatter = 'test'
+        parsed_args.sort_columns = []
         with mock.patch.object(test_lister, 'take_action') as mock_take_action:
             mock_take_action.return_value = (('Col1', 'Col2', 'Col3'), [])
             self.assertRaises(
@@ -74,3 +82,63 @@ class TestLister(base.TestBase):
                 test_lister.run,
                 parsed_args,
             )
+
+    def test_sort_by_column_cliff_side_procedure(self):
+        test_lister = ExerciseLister(mock.Mock(), [])
+        parsed_args = mock.Mock()
+        parsed_args.columns = ('Col1', 'Col2')
+        parsed_args.formatter = 'test'
+        parsed_args.sort_columns = ['Col2', 'Col1']
+
+        test_lister.run(parsed_args)
+
+        f = test_lister._formatter_plugins['test']
+        args = f.args[0]
+        data = list(args[1])
+        self.assertEqual([['a', 'A'], ['c', 'A'], ['b', 'B']], data)
+
+    def test_sort_by_column_data_already_sorted(self):
+        test_lister = ExerciseListerCustomSort(mock.Mock(), [])
+        parsed_args = mock.Mock()
+        parsed_args.columns = ('Col1', 'Col2')
+        parsed_args.formatter = 'test'
+        parsed_args.sort_columns = ['Col2', 'Col1']
+
+        test_lister.run(parsed_args)
+
+        f = test_lister._formatter_plugins['test']
+        args = f.args[0]
+        data = list(args[1])
+        self.assertEqual([['a', 'A'], ['b', 'B'], ['c', 'A']], data)
+
+    def test_sort_by_non_displayed_column(self):
+        test_lister = ExerciseLister(mock.Mock(), [])
+        parsed_args = mock.Mock()
+        parsed_args.columns = ('Col1',)
+        parsed_args.formatter = 'test'
+        parsed_args.sort_columns = ['Col2']
+
+        with mock.patch.object(test_lister, 'take_action') as mock_take_action:
+            mock_take_action.return_value = (
+                ('Col1', 'Col2'), [['a', 'A'], ['b', 'B'], ['c', 'A']]
+            )
+            test_lister.run(parsed_args)
+
+        f = test_lister._formatter_plugins['test']
+        args = f.args[0]
+        data = list(args[1])
+        self.assertEqual([['a'], ['c'], ['b']], data)
+
+    def test_sort_by_non_existing_column(self):
+        test_lister = ExerciseLister(mock.Mock(), [])
+        parsed_args = mock.Mock()
+        parsed_args.columns = ('Col1', 'Col2')
+        parsed_args.formatter = 'test'
+        parsed_args.sort_columns = ['no_exist_column']
+
+        test_lister.run(parsed_args)
+
+        f = test_lister._formatter_plugins['test']
+        args = f.args[0]
+        data = list(args[1])
+        self.assertEqual([['a', 'A'], ['b', 'B'], ['c', 'A']], data)