diff --git a/cursive-core/Cargo.toml b/cursive-core/Cargo.toml
index 0ce23831..48fcf655 100644
--- a/cursive-core/Cargo.toml
+++ b/cursive-core/Cargo.toml
@@ -60,6 +60,10 @@ version = "0.8"
 default-features = false
 version = "0.4"
 
+[dependencies.regex]
+optional = true
+version = "1"
+
 [dependencies.pulldown-cmark]
 default-features = false
 optional = true
@@ -69,6 +73,7 @@ version = "0.11"
 default = []
 doc-cfg = []
 builder = ["inventory", "cursive-macros/builder"]
+cursup = ["regex"]
 markdown = ["pulldown-cmark"]
 ansi = ["ansi-parser"]
 unstable_scroll = []  # Deprecated feature, remove in next version
diff --git a/cursive-core/src/theme/style.rs b/cursive-core/src/theme/style.rs
index eced6505..2c6dc52f 100644
--- a/cursive-core/src/theme/style.rs
+++ b/cursive-core/src/theme/style.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 use std::iter::FromIterator;
+use std::str::FromStr;
 
 use super::{
     Color, ColorPair, ColorStyle, ColorType, ConcreteEffects, Effect, Effects, Palette,
@@ -164,6 +165,22 @@ impl Style {
     }
 }
 
+impl FromStr for Style {
+    type Err = super::NoSuchColor;
+
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Self, Self::Err> {
+        if let Ok(front) = s.parse::<ColorType>() {
+            return Ok(front.into());
+        }
+
+        if let Ok(effect) = s.parse::<Effect>() {
+            return Ok(effect.into());
+        }
+
+        Err(super::NoSuchColor)
+    }
+}
+
 impl From<Effect> for Style {
     fn from(effect: Effect) -> Self {
         Style {
diff --git a/cursive-core/src/utils/markup/cursup.rs b/cursive-core/src/utils/markup/cursup.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..18783140
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cursive-core/src/utils/markup/cursup.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+//! A simple markup format.
+//!
+//! # Examples
+//!
+//! ```
+//! /red{This} /green{text} /blue{is} /bold{very} /underline{styled}!
+//! /red+bold{This too!}
+//! ```
+#![cfg(feature = "cursup")]
+#![cfg_attr(feature = "doc-cfg", doc(cfg(feature = "cursup")))]
+use crate::theme::Style;
+use crate::utils::markup::{StyledIndexedSpan, StyledString};
+use crate::utils::span::IndexedCow;
+
+use unicode_width::UnicodeWidthStr;
+
+/// Parse spans for the given text.
+pub fn parse_spans(input: &str) -> Vec<StyledIndexedSpan> {
+    let mut result = Vec::new();
+
+    let re = regex::Regex::new(r"\/(?:(\w+)(?:\+(\w+))*)\{(.+)\}").unwrap();
+
+    let mut offset = 0;
+    let mut content = input;
+    while let Some(c) = re.captures(content) {
+        let m = c.get(0).unwrap();
+        let start = m.start();
+        let end = m.end();
+
+        // First, append the entire content up to here.
+        if start != 0 {
+            result.push(StyledIndexedSpan {
+                content: IndexedCow::Borrowed {
+                    start: offset,
+                    end: offset + start,
+                },
+                attr: Style::default(),
+                width: content[..start].width(),
+            });
+        }
+
+        let len = c.len();
+        assert!(
+            len > 2,
+            "The regex should always yield at least 2 groups (+ the entire match)."
+        );
+        let body = c.get(len - 1).unwrap();
+
+        let mut style = Style::default();
+
+        for i in 1..len - 1 {
+            let Some(action) = c.get(i) else {
+                continue;
+            };
+
+            style = style.combine(action.as_str().parse::<Style>().unwrap());
+        }
+
+        result.push(StyledIndexedSpan {
+            content: IndexedCow::Borrowed {
+                start: offset + body.start(),
+                end: offset + body.end(),
+            },
+            attr: style,
+            width: body.as_str().width(),
+        });
+
+        content = &content[end..];
+        offset += end;
+    }
+
+    if !content.is_empty() {
+        result.push(StyledIndexedSpan {
+            content: IndexedCow::Borrowed {
+                start: offset,
+                end: offset + content.len(),
+            },
+            attr: Style::default(),
+            width: content.width(),
+        });
+    }
+
+    result
+}
+
+/// Parse the given text into a styled string.
+pub fn parse<S>(input: S) -> crate::utils::markup::StyledString
+where
+    S: Into<String>,
+{
+    let input = input.into();
+
+    let spans = parse_spans(&input);
+
+    StyledString::with_spans(input, spans)
+}
diff --git a/cursive-core/src/utils/markup/mod.rs b/cursive-core/src/utils/markup/mod.rs
index b3f64bcb..bc50eff9 100644
--- a/cursive-core/src/utils/markup/mod.rs
+++ b/cursive-core/src/utils/markup/mod.rs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 //! Each module is optional and relies on a feature.
 
 pub mod ansi;
+pub mod cursup;
 pub mod markdown;
 
 use crate::theme::Style;
diff --git a/cursive/Cargo.toml b/cursive/Cargo.toml
index 3a26f0b3..91d0706d 100644
--- a/cursive/Cargo.toml
+++ b/cursive/Cargo.toml
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ version = "0.27"
 doc-cfg = ["cursive_core/doc-cfg"]  # Enable doc_cfg, a nightly-only doc feature.
 builder = ["cursive_core/builder"]
 blt-backend = ["bear-lib-terminal"]
+cursup = ["cursive_core/cursup"]
 default = ["ncurses-backend"]
 ncurses-backend = ["ncurses", "maplit"]
 pancurses-backend = ["pancurses", "maplit"]
@@ -80,6 +81,10 @@ required-features = ["ansi"]
 name = "builder"
 required-features = ["builder"]
 
+[[example]]
+name = "mockup"
+required-features = ["cursup"]
+
 [dev-dependencies]
 rand = "0.8"
 atty = "0.2"