diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 30617b9..b02b368 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -223,6 +223,17 @@ class Timely
 end
 ```
 
+If you have a specific date format that you need to use for parsing the date string, you can specify the format in the column type.  For example:
+
+```ruby
+class Task
+  include MotionModel::Model
+  include MotionModel::ArrayModelAdapter
+
+  columns :due_date => {:type => :date, :format => "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZZZZZ"}
+end
+```
+
 You can also include the `Validatable` module to get field validation. For example:
 
 ```ruby
diff --git a/motion/date_parser.rb b/motion/date_parser.rb
index b59c17e..afe4499 100644
--- a/motion/date_parser.rb
+++ b/motion/date_parser.rb
@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ def self.parse_date(date_string)
 
     detect(date_string).first.date
   end
+  
+  def self.parse_date_with_format(date_string, format)
+    allocate_date_formatter_with_format(format)
+    return @@isoDateFormatter.dateFromString(date_string)
+  end
 
   # Parse time zone from date
   #
@@ -52,6 +57,11 @@ def self.allocate_date_formatter
     @@isoDateFormatter = NSDateFormatter.alloc.init
     @@isoDateFormatter.dateFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZ'"
   end
+  
+  def self.allocate_date_formatter_with_format(format)
+    @@isoDateFormatter = NSDateFormatter.alloc.init
+    @@isoDateFormatter.dateFormat = format
+  end
 
   def self.fractional_date(date_string)
     allocate_date_formatter if @@isoDateFormatter.nil?
diff --git a/motion/model/model_casts.rb b/motion/model/model_casts.rb
index 3764b40..a8b0ffb 100644
--- a/motion/model/model_casts.rb
+++ b/motion/model/model_casts.rb
@@ -18,11 +18,16 @@ def cast_to_float(arg)
       arg.is_a?(Float) ? arg : arg.to_f
     end
 
-    def cast_to_date(arg)
+    def cast_to_date(arg, column_name)
       case arg
         when String
-          return DateParser::parse_date(arg)
-          # return NSDate.dateWithNaturalLanguageString(arg.gsub('-','/'), locale:NSUserDefaults.standardUserDefaults.dictionaryRepresentation)
+          date_format = options(column_name).key?(:format) && options(column_name)[:format]
+          if date_format
+            return DateParser::parse_date_with_format(arg,date_format)
+          else
+            return DateParser::parse_date(arg)
+            # return NSDate.dateWithNaturalLanguageString(arg.gsub('-','/'), locale:NSUserDefaults.standardUserDefaults.dictionaryRepresentation)
+          end
         when Time, NSDate
           return arg
           # return NSDate.dateWithNaturalLanguageString(arg.strftime('%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S'), locale:NSUserDefaults.standardUserDefaults.dictionaryRepresentation)
@@ -52,7 +57,7 @@ def cast_to_type(column_name, arg) #nodoc
       when :boolean, :bool then cast_to_bool(arg)
       when :int, :integer, :belongs_to_id then cast_to_integer(arg)
       when :float, :double then cast_to_float(arg)
-      when :date, :time, :datetime then cast_to_date(arg)
+      when :date, :time, :datetime then cast_to_date(arg,column_name)
       when :text then cast_to_string(arg)
       when :array then cast_to_array(arg)
       when :hash then cast_to_hash(arg)
diff --git a/spec/date_spec.rb b/spec/date_spec.rb
index 7d3c9a8..efbf8de 100644
--- a/spec/date_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/date_spec.rb
@@ -96,4 +96,12 @@ class Model
       m.test_date.utc.to_s.should.not.eql '2012-04-23 18:25:51 UTC'
     end
   end
+  
+  describe "user specified date formats" do
+    it 'parses a user date format' do
+      date = DateParser::parse_date_with_format("2014-10-28T22:30:00.000-07:00", "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZZZZZ")
+      date.should.not.be.nil
+      date.utc.to_s.should.eql '2014-10-29 05:30:00 UTC'
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/model_casting_spec.rb b/spec/model_casting_spec.rb
index 66c678b..7b12e05 100644
--- a/spec/model_casting_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/model_casting_spec.rb
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ class TypeCast
           :a_double => :double,
           :a_date => :date,
           :a_time => :time,
+          :b_date => {:type => :date, :format => "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZZZZZ"},
           :an_array => :array
 end
 
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@ class TypeCast
     @convertible.a_float = '3.7'
     @convertible.a_double = '3.41459'
     @convertible.a_date = '2012-09-15'
+    @convertible.b_date = "2014-10-28T22:30:00.000-07:00"
     @convertible.an_array = 1..10
   end
   
@@ -30,6 +32,7 @@ class TypeCast
     @convertible.a_float.should.is_a Float
     @convertible.a_double.should.is_a Float
     @convertible.a_date.should.is_a NSDate
+    @convertible.b_date.should.is_a NSDate
     @convertible.an_array.should.is_a Array
   end
 
@@ -109,9 +112,18 @@ class TypeCast
     @convertible.a_date.should.is_a(NSDate)
   end
   
+  it 'returns an NSDate for a date field when provided a proper format for a given date string' do
+    @convertible.b_date.should.is_a(NSDate)
+  end
+  
   it 'the date field should be the same as it was in string form' do
     @convertible.a_date.to_s.should.match(/^2012-09-15/)
   end
+  
+  it 'parses date using a format if specified in column definition' do
+    @convertible.b_date.should.not.be.nil
+    @convertible.b_date.utc.to_s.should.eql '2014-10-29 05:30:00 UTC'
+  end
 
   it 'returns an Array for an array field' do
     @convertible.an_array.should.is_a(Array)