static char *cleanup_arg;
 
 static int use_editor = 1, initial_commit, in_merge, include_status = 1;
+static int show_ignored_in_status;
 static const char *only_include_assumed;
 static struct strbuf message;
 
                  "mode",
                  "show untracked files, optional modes: all, normal, no. (Default: all)",
                  PARSE_OPT_OPTARG, NULL, (intptr_t)"all" },
+               OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "ignored", &show_ignored_in_status,
+                           "show ignored files"),
                OPT_END(),
        };
 
                             builtin_status_options,
                             builtin_status_usage, 0);
        handle_untracked_files_arg(&s);
-
+       if (show_ignored_in_status)
+               s.show_ignored_files = 1;
        if (*argv)
                s.pathspec = get_pathspec(prefix, argv);